Beautiful, Powerful, Dangerous, Cold
by grrlgeek72
Summary: It is 15 months since the Great Thaw, and things in Arendelle couldn't be better. Anna and Kristoff grow closer, and Elsa has settled into a comfortable routine as Queen. It's "Happily Ever After" after all. What could possibly go wrong? An old enemy has a plan to make it ALL go wrong. Two chapters are rated M for MATURE, with reasons explained. Enjoy. Feedback appreciated.
1. A Beautiful Day in Arendelle

**Chapter 1- Arendelle Marketplace. 15 months after the Great Thaw.**

Queen Elsa sat contentedly in the marketplace of Arendelle, watching the bustle around her. She loved this time of day, this time of year. The fall air is just crisp enough to tell her that winter (the real winter) will come soon, but the days are still warm and golden. Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf had decided to go on a picnic, (Olaf loved picnics!) so she was alone today except for her guards.

Since the Great Thaw 15 months ago, it had become her habit to spend one day a month in the town, making herself available to all her people to approach with greetings, news, problems, gossip, anything at all they wanted to share with her, in an informal setting. She held formal court, of course, where the high and low justice of the kingdom could be dispensed, and other business of the realm would be presented to her. She felt the need to connect on a more personal level as well. After 13 years of isolation, and the trauma of the Great Freeze, it would have been too easy to stay aloof from the day to day life of the kingdom and her people. She wouldn't let that happen. They deserved better. They deserved to know the woman who ruled them, and she would no longer hide herself from them.

It was late in the afternoon, and the day had gone exceedingly well. Elsa sipped at her tea, considered that it was time to call her guard captain to return to the castle. Something seemed to catch in her throat and she couldn't breathe. A cramping pain struck in her chest. She gasped and clutched herself, trying to speak.

"Captain!" she called out weakly, and collapsed. The guard captain, who was standing nearby watching the people in the square, whipped his head around and saw his queen clutching her chest and scrabbling weakly at the table, then gasping one last breath and becoming still.

"Guards! To me! The Queen!" he bellowed. "Is there a physician nearby?"

Fortunately, they were near an apothecary. A bewhiskered, elderly man in a leather apron ran out to the captain, looking at the Queen. "I am a physician! Bring her into my shop and let me see if I can help!" Two of the guards raised Elsa up as gently as they can, and carried her into the shop.

"Bring her back here and lay her on the pallet!" ordered the physician. They did so. "Captain, keep the crowd out of the shop. You and your men keep watch in the shop, my two assistants and I will do what we can for the Queen."

The Captain nodded and set his men to their duty, while two young women rushed into the back room with the physician. They hovered over Elsa, and the Captain turned to watch the crowd. He was afraid. Was this an assassination attempt? Or just some health problem stemming from the Queen's mysterious ice powers? He clenched his jaw grimly and watched through the door as best he could.

After a few minutes, the physician slowly straightened up and glanced at his two assistants. They looked back and nodded, then brought a linen sheet to the bed, which the physician slowly and gently laid over the Queen. The Captain felt his gut turn to ice. No, this can't be happening. The physician turned and walked to where the Captain stood.

"I'm sorry, Captain, but the Queen is dead. It seemed to be her heart. It just...stopped." he finished sadly and hung his head. The two women seemed to be choking back tears.

Numb. The Captain was numb. He looked at the sheet draped over the body of his Queen, the Queen he had sworn to protect. The sheet didn't quite cover her completely; he could see a lock of her platinum hair, her small crown slightly askew. The physician followed his glance, murmured an apology to the Captain and pulled the sheet up further and arranged it more carefully.

"Captain?" the physician touched his arm gently. The Captain's shoulders slumped, and he nodded slowly as he realized what he had to do next.

"Jorgensen!" he called to one of his men.

"Sir!" came the crisp response.

"Run back to the castle, RUN, I say, and bring back another squad of guards and a wagon. We must bring the Queen home."

He turned back to the physician. "I believe that you will be called to the castle to testify to what happened here. But first, we must bring the Queen back home."

"Of course, Captain. I am at your service.", replied the physician with a small bow.

Within the hour, as the sun was setting, the wagon bearing the Queen started back to the castle. A flag of Arendelle had been added to the linen covering Elsa's body, the crocus that was the symbol of her realm clearly visible. The Captain and his men formed an honor guard, and a small group of townspeople followed the wagon as it slowly made its way toward the gates of the castle in a somber procession. A bell began to toll when they entered the castle gates.

* * *

Anna loved this time of year, this time of day. It was a beautiful fall afternoon, and a perfect day for a picnic. Olaf loved picnics. He had talked Anna and Kristoff into joining him on the banks of the fjord. Sven was back at the stable, with a manger full of hay and carrots. Sven wasn't that fond of picnics, so he didn't mind if they had one without him, as long as they brought him the leftovers.

Olaf was "fishing", with a string tied to his twiggy fingers. He giggled as he waited for the bobber to show he had a fish! Since there was no bait on the line (Olaf couldn't bear to hook a worm, and neither could Anna) he would wait for quite a while. That was okay. He just enjoyed the company.

Kristoff and Anna lay back on a soft blanket, the remains of the picnic on a red and white checked cloth. They had finished each others' sandwiches along with dessert and chocolate, and now just rested, replete and at ease. Kristoff felt himself begin to doze. It was almost sunset, after all. He noticed that Anna had fallen silent, and was looking out over the fjord somewhat pensively. "Skilling for your thoughts, Feisty Pants?"

Anna sat up, startled. "Just...remembering."

Kristoff winced and pulled her into a little hug. They were looking out over the fjord near the path from the castle that Elsa had used to flee her coronation celebration. Anna had used the same path to run out onto the ice in search of Kristoff when she was freezing to death from Elsa's magic. Just about 50 yards away, Anna had indeed frozen to death as she threw herself in front of a sword meant to kill her sister; an act of true love that broke the magic and restored Anna to warmth and life. They both shivered a little at the memory. It had been a close run thing.

Fortunately, Anna's bubbling personality wouldn't let her wallow in gloomy introspection for long, and within a few minutes they were both laughing at some little joke, and Olaf joined in to discuss why he wasn't catching any fish!

It was starting to get dark in the shadow of the castle wall, and the evening air was becoming chilly, so they began to pick up the blanket, tablecloth and other picnic gear, ready to return to the castle and meet with Elsa for dinner. Just as they started to walk up the path, the castle bell began to toll. Not an ordinary toll, but a slow, mournful toll. That bell hadn't tolled that way since... her parents' deaths... Anna and Kristoff looked at each other and realized that something was very, very wrong. They dropped everything they were carrying and ran back to the castle, trailed by Olaf.

When they reached the castle courtyard, they saw a somber crowd milling in front of the church doors. Kai turned and saw them, and immediately came to Anna, followed by several other officials and guard officers. He bowed, and said to Anna, "Your Majesty!".

Kristoff stiffened and felt his blood run cold. There is only one person in Arendelle who can be addressed as "Your Majesty", and Kai was too experienced to make a silly mistake like that. A quick glance at Anna told Kristoff that she hadn't caught on yet. He braced himself for what was coming. This was bad, this was very, very bad.

Kai cleared his throat, and repeated, "Your Majesty...Queen Elsa is dead. Long live Queen Anna of Arendelle!"

Anna gasped and the crowd behind Kai chorused, "Queen Elsa is dead. Long live Queen Anna of Arendelle!" She staggered back into Kristoff, nearly falling to her knees.

"No, no, no, no, no this can't be happening. It isn't happening. I won't let it be happening..." Anna's thoughts turned to gibberish, her brain was frozen, her heart is frozen, again. "Not again, please no not again. Elsa, where is Elsa?"

She can't make her thoughts into anything coherent, the courtyard is spinning and it feels like she is spinning; she is falling and she would have fallen if Kristoff hadn't been there to catch her like some sort of crazy trust exercise.

"Anna, what's wrong?" Olaf asked. (Snowmen aren't good at nuance. He doesn't understand why everyone is so glum.)

Anna looked at him sadly. Lowering herself the rest of the way to the ground so she is at eye level with Olaf, she started to explain. Kristoff knelt behind her, supporting her. She suddenly stopped, closed her mouth and clenched her teeth, eyes widening.

Then she screamed "Elsa!"

Getting up, she ran into the church, followed by Kristoff and Kai. They are afraid that her grief has pushed her over some edge of hysteria.

At the front of the church is a bier with a body draped with the flag of Arendelle. Skidding to a stop, Anna drew a shaky breath, reached out with a trembling hand and slowly, hesitantly, tenderly folded the flag covering the body back to see her sister's face.

Anna fainted.


	2. The Council Meets

**Chapter 2-Arendelle Castle, Chamber of the Royal Advisory Council**

Anna looked around the table, taking in the chaos and crosstalk. She was still shaken by the discovery that the person lying dead in the church is not her sister Elsa, but someone else. Some nameless young woman, apparently murdered for no reason other than to provide a body to be disguised as the Queen. For what purpose? It made no sense. Where was Elsa? Kristoff sat beside her, watching her face. He reached for her hand under the table and gave it a warm squeeze.

"We'll figure this out, together." he whispered. She nodded.

Well, time to figure it out. Anna rapped sharply on the table.

"QUIET!"

That got their attention and they fell silent, looking at her, waiting.

Anna glared at the Captain of Elsa's guard detail. "Please, Captain, once more, slowly, tell us the whole story. What happened?"

He repeated the story of the Queen's day in town, up to the point where she seemed to have a seizure of some sort and the physician's attempt to revive her. He feels like a fool as he tells it. How could he have fallen for the ruse? He wasn't some new recruit on his first patrol. He had served Elsa for 4 years, and her father for 15 years before that.

He continued, "I sent a detail back to the apothecary to bring the physician here, but the shop was empty. When they searched it, they found three bodies in a back room. The shopkeeper next door identified the bodies as the physician and his assistants. Whoever had posed as the physician was long gone!" He drew himself up. "I failed Her Majesty, and I failed Arendelle. Princess Anna, I offer you my profoundest apologies, and my resignation. I am not fit for the Queen's Guard." He rose and began to leave the table.

Anna waved him back to his seat. "We'll have plenty of time to apportion blame later, Captain. For now, we need you here until we figure this out."

He bowed his head to her, but his shame was clear on his face.

Anna is chilled. Four murders. Cold blooded killers, indeed. This had been very carefully planned. This was not a spur of the moment thing, someone had put a lot of thought and resources into it. But who? And why?

Whatever the answer to "Why?", it certainly wasn't benign. For the first time in...a long while, she was afraid.

"Who was that poor woman in the church?" Anna asked.

Kai responded, "Your Majesty... "

Anna stopped him with a glare.

He started over. "Umm, Your Highness, we believe she is a farm girl who had been reported missing three days ago. We have sent for her parents to verify her identity."

Anna reflected on this for a moment. "This is clearly a plot of some sort against my sister and Arendelle. Elsa has been kidnapped. And we have no idea by whom, or why, or where she may be."

Kai looked at her quizzically. "Your M..Highness, you seemed to realize that Queen Elsa was not dead before you ran into the church. And you apparently think she is still alive. May I ask why?"

Anna looked at him gently. She knew how devoted to Elsa Kai is, how devastated by her disappearance.

"Olaf" she says.

The little snowman sat in a corner of the room, his personal flurry cloud a dark gray, his face sadder than it had been since...since the day Anna's heart froze. He looked up at the sound of his name and Anna gave him a little smile and shook her head. He went back to his gloomy contemplation.

There were blank looks all around the table except for Kristoff. He knew exactly where she was going with this.

She went on, "After the Great Thaw, Elsa did a lot of research into her powers. We sought out old texts and scholars and spoke to the eldest troll. We still don't know much about her powers, where they came from or why, but the little we were able to find made it clear that when she died, anything she had created with them would fade away. So if Hans HAD succeeded in killing her last year, the winter WOULD have ended. Just a lot slower than the way Elsa was able to do it, to the great detriment of Arendelle."

They still didn't get it. "Don't you see! If Elsa were dead, OLAF would have melted! He'd be 'dead', too!"

* * *

Hours later, after yet another futile round of blaming and useless speculation, Anna dismissed them.

"It's after midnight, none of us has two brain cells left to rub together any more, and we haven't had an original thought in hours. Go, get some food, try to get some sleep. We'll meet again at ten in the morning."

They looked at her blankly, nodded, and started to leave. She had one more order to give, however, as much as she hated it.

"Captain?" He stopped walking out the door and focused his attention on her.

"We still have no good idea about who is behind this, why they are doing it, or if they are finished doing it." She gathered her courage to give the order and finished, "Close the gates. The castle must be sealed until we know more about what is going on."

He nodded, saluted and left. She bit back a sob and leaned into Kristoff, thinking bitterly of horses and barn doors.

"_We are never going to close them again!" _echoed in her head.

"Oh, Elsa! Where are you?!"


	3. The First Day of the Rest of Her Life

**Chapter 3- Arendelle. The first morning of the rest of her life...**

Morning came, but brought no good news. No news of any sort, really.

Since yesterday evening, when the deception had been discovered by Anna, every uniformed man in the service of Arendelle had been searching everywhere, desperately hoping to turn up some clue to where Elsa had been stolen away, and who had done the deed. Nothing. The ships in the harbor had been searched as well, their passengers and crew questioned.

Unfortunately, Arendelle was a busy port, and the tide was at the ebb late yesterday evening. (More good planning, Anna thought.) More than ten ships had sailed on the tide in the two hours between the switch and the discovery of the substitution. Once the moonless night fell, with favorable winds a ship could disappear into the vast ocean and never be seen again. And apparently had. The only sure thing they knew for sure was that whoever had kidnapped Elsa, they had not left Arendelle by land before the borders had been sealed. They had to have left on a ship. And all the paperwork for the ships that had left was completely in order. Perfect planning, again. No clues, no hints.

Anna flashed back to the conversation with the parents of the girl murdered to double for Elsa. It was...not a pleasant memory.

They had been fearful when summoned to the castle. Their daughter had been missing for three days, and hope was fading quickly. Their worst nightmares had come true when they were brought into the church and shown their daughter. The mother collapsed into her husband's arms, sobbing.

He struggled to hold back his own grief, and asked Anna, "Who did this? Who killed my daughter and dressed her like Queen Elsa? Why?"

She had nothing to comfort him with, no answers to his questions. She could only offer them her promise that whoever had done it would be brought to justice, if it was the last thing she did on this earth.

"I swear this to you on my own honor, the honor of my sister, and the honor of my House. Your daughter's murderers will be brought to account for their heinous crime."

It didn't seem to help much, and she could hardly blame them. It was an empty promise for now. She gave instructions to Kai that whatever they needed to bury their daughter with dignity be provided. After all, she had given her life for the Queen of Arendelle, however unwitting a sacrifice it had been. Arendelle owed the girl's family a life debt, and a proper memorial was a pittance of a down payment.

Through it all, Kristoff stood silent at her side, her rock. She wasn't sure she could have done any of it without him there. After all, ELSA was the grownup in the family. Anna was just the goofy little sister, with a bad case of hero worship. She shouldn't be entrusted with running a picnic, much less an entire kingdom.

_"Elsa, where are you?" _ran through her head for the thousandth time. She allowed herself a quick reassuring glance at Olaf. _ "You're okay, Elsa. I know you're still okay." _Well, alive at least. Not sure if okay was still in the mix. No, not sure at all.

She shook her head, turned to Kristoff and said, "Okay, another meeting. Let's see if anyone has come up with anything useful this time."

He nodded, took her hand, and they walked into the castle, heading for the Council Room. Olaf was with them, he rarely left Anna's side now. She held the little snowman's hand, too, he was her last connection to Elsa. Anna offered a silent prayer that somehow her sister knew that Anna loved her, and would find her again whatever it took.

_"We're coming, sis! Hang in there!" _That seemed an empty promise, too.

* * *

They hadn't. Come up with anything useful, that is.

It was now a full day since Elsa's disappearance. They only things they knew for sure were:

1) Elsa was gone.

2) Whoever had taken her was clever, resourceful, and too damn competent for their own good.

3) And...nothing. That was it. Anna shook with frustration.

"OKAY!"

The group at the table stopped talking and looked at her. It was a slightly different group from yesterday. They had added the town's mayor, the Admiral of the Navy of Arendelle and three of his senior ship captains, the heads of the main guilds, and the Bishop. They supplemented the usual suspects of the Royal Advisory Council.

"Anyone? Anything?" she asked the assembled company.

The Admiral cleared this throat, and began to speak. "Your Majesty..." Anna immediately cut him off.

"STOP. RIGHT. THERE." He did.

She stood up, leaning forward to put her fists on the table.

"Let's get this straight, once and for all. Until Queen Elsa of Arendelle is CONFIRMED dead beyond a shadow of any doubt. ANY doubt! I AM NOT 'Your Majesty'! I am ONLY the Heir Presumptive, the Spare! Got that?" She glared at each one of the men around the table, daring them to gainsay her.

"Under the circumstances, I accept my responsibility to act as my sister's Regent, until she is returned to us. And I will do my best for Arendelle and to make her proud of me. But I am NOT the QUEEN, and the sooner you all get that planted firmly in your heads the better off we will all be! Do you understand?"

There were some tentative nods and a few murmured sounds of agreement, so she tried one more time.

** "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"**

This time, she got a solid chorus of "Yes, Your Highness!"

Kai seemed to be having a quiet coughing fit, and so did Kristoff. Was that a smirk? Better not be...she knew where he lived. With Sven.

"Better, much better." She sat down. "Admiral, I believe you have the floor?"

High Admiral of the Navy Mikael Naismith was the highest ranking officer of the Arendelle military, _de facto_ and _de jure_ in overall command of Elsa's armed forces. His family had immigrated to Arendelle from Avalon when his great-grandfather had decided to remove himself from the religious turmoil in the aftermath of the Great Revolution. His troops called him "Old Hard as Nails", although not where he might hear it.

"Yes, ahem, Your Highness. As I was about to explain earlier, the Arendelle Intelligence Service is charged with gathering information on existing and potential threats to the kingdom, its Queen, and its people, presenting their analyses to the Crown and Council, and making recommendations for action. As you can imagine, the members of that service have been reviewing every item in their files in light of this terrible incident, hoping to find something that would seem meaningful now that was obscure before." He frowned. "I am disappointed to report that no such information seems to be forthcoming."

Anna put her head in her hands. "In other words, they got nothing."

"Ah, succinctly, yes, Your Highness." She looked at him and sighed.

"Thank you, Admiral." He bowed and sat down.

The silence stretched painfully, Anna staring at the far wall with unfocused eyes. Someone cleared their throat. She focused at the faces around the table.

"Yes?" One of the Naval captains stood and gave a little bow.

"Your Highness, if I may?" She nodded warily. He went on, "This seems to be a most unusual situation...in most cases of abduction, there are demands for ransom, or other concessions. Particularly in the case of such a high-ranking, ah, " he stopped himself from saying the word 'hostage' just in time, "subject, we would expect to be receiving some sort of communication from those behind this, making their demands known. It may be that we have simply not received those communications because not enough time has passed. Whether by land or by ship, the nearest settlement is at least a day's travel away."

Anna slumped in her chair. "So, we do nothing?" She snorted mentally. She could have gotten better advice from Sven! But she had misjudged him.

"No, no, that is not all all what I am suggesting, Your Highness! I am simply trying to bring a very small glimmer of hope into a very grim situation." the Captain assured her.

He continued, "We should continue to seek out intelligence, the navy and the fishing fleet in particular. We are almost certain the Queen was transported by ship. Our sailors are familiar with every port within a thousand miles. A few discreet questions in the taverns and brothels may in fact get us some leads. SOMEONE, after all, planned this abomination, recruited for it, and paid for it. They must have left a trail, and we need to get on that trail before it grows too cold." He bowed stiffly and sat down. They waited.

Anna's brain finally started working. She stood again.

"Gentlemen, you are right. I appreciate your advice and counsel. You all have skills and expertise in your field, and I trust you to do your jobs. The Captain had a good point about how long it takes for messages to travel, so it does us no good to meet every day and rehash old news. I suggest the following."

She looked directly at the Admiral. "Since the AIS reports to you, it is my request that all of the information gathered by any of the services of Arendelle flow through you for summary reporting to me. This council will meet once a week to hear your report, unless you call us together for some urgent update. Is that satisfactory, Admiral?"

He bowed to her from his seat, "It is, Your Highness. You may count on us." She nodded, then turned to the table at large.

"Our people must be informed of what is happening, and where we stand. Lord Mayor, would you please have the town newpaper do a special printing, and include an account of exactly what happened yesterday, with every detail we know, including our best description of the 'physician'", she practically spat the word, "and his 'assistants'. Make it known that a reward is offered by the Crown for any information that helps us locate Queen Elsa. A **generous** reward."

The mayor nodded while taking notes.

Anna went on, "I would like that printing to be distributed to the entire kingdom no later than noon tomorrow. Include an announcement that at noon on the day after tomorrow, we will have a meeting in the castle courtyard, open to every citizen, and I will update them on the situation and take any questions they have. As my sister's Regent." she concluded numbly.

A few of them exchanged glances when they heard this decision, but no one had the courage to suggest that it might put her in danger. They recognized steel in a spine when they saw it.

"As Elsa's Regent, I will be attending the regular Council meetings as we continue to govern the Kingdom in my sister's absence. We will meet tomorrow morning with the regular agenda." One last sweeping glance around the table. "This meeting is adjourned. Thank you all." and with that, she left the room, back straight, head high, with all the regal bearing that Elsa could ever ask for.

_"I'll make you proud, sis."_

* * *

_**Author's note:**  
_

_Anna's rant about her status as Heir Presumptive shows that she has a better grasp of the legal niceties of her status than the advisers sitting at the table. In a realm that passes the throne through the rules of absolute primogeniture (gender of the oldest child doesn't matter; they inherit) and there is a ruling queen, until that queen is dead, it is assumed that there is always the chance for an heir of her body, which would supersede a sibling. No matter if she is 80 years old. (snark)_


	4. It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

**Chapter 4 - It was a dark and stormy night.**

**Warning: we are going full on dark here. Rating is now M for MATURE. This first scene depicts an attempt (failed attempt) at sexual assault. No bodices are even ripped, but the terror is there. If this will disturb you, skip this chapter. You have been warned. Also, drug induced stream of consciousness. Some naughty words, not nearly strong enough. YMMV.  
**

* * *

She wakes up, or tries to wake up, but isn't doing it very well. Her eyes won't open, they're gummed shut and sticky. Her head feels like it's full of cotton wool and pounding drums. When she does manage to rub her eyes enough to manage blinking them open, she doesn't recognize what she is looking at, or where she is. She struggles frantically even to remember her own name. It won't come, it won't come, who am I, where am I why can't I remember! She tries not to taste her own mouth and the smell can only be described as rank and she gags but she can't empty her stomach and trying just hurts.

She manages to drag herself upright she's on some sort of bunk or bed and notices her wrists are shackled and so are her feet and she still can't focus her eyes the room is a blur and why is it rocking? She gags again and again nothing happens but her stomach cramps and it hurts. She looks down at herself and thinks that's not my dress, but she doesn't know how she knows that because she still doesn't know who she is and why can't she remember!

Muzzy, musty, misty that's all that's in her brain who am I where am I why can't I remember? And then some where in her head there's a small click and there's a name is it her name Elsa is the name, it's her name, she's Elsa, she's ELSA! And she gasps and pants like a dog on a hot summer day trying to catch her breath like she had just run ten miles across the fjord wait what?! how can you run across a fjord? you'd drown. Wouldn't you? A puzzle. For some reason she thinks the puzzle is purple and she giggles at the thought of a purple puzzle running across the fjord.

Slowly, oh so slowly she manages to make the room stop spinning she tries to sit perfectly still and breathe, just breathe, slow, deep breaths, finally clearing her head a little, just a little, just enough that she is Elsa. There's more, she can feel it peeking at her, just around the corner in her brain, another name, Anna, who is Anna? Her sister, Anna is her sister! And she's panting again with the effort. That's enough for a first try, she needs to rest, to catch her breath again.

The door slams open, startling her. She cringes against the wall as two men come into the room (why is it rocking? She's on a SHIP!) and one look at them is enough to tell her she does not want to be in this room with these men but it doesn't look like she gets a vote.

They are laughing, and one of them comes over to her and grabs her arms and picks her up and holds her close and she wants to gag again at his filthy stink. He says to the other man, "Well, a fine bit o' fluff to play with tonight, hey?" and he laughs and she knows she is in real trouble now and this will not end well and he pulls her closer and moves his hand to grip her dress and she knows he is going to rip it off and she can't stop him. There's a loud noise like a melon splitting and she is falling to the floor and he falls on top of her, crushing the breath out of her, and she tries to push him off but she can't he's too heavy and there is something warm and wet and salty running into her eyes and nose and mouth and she tries to spit it out and gags again and again.

And quickly the weight is off of her and she can breathe. She hears more noise, several noises, then a dragging sound, and another man's voice is saying, "I told you this one was OFF LIMITS!"

He spits. "Throw that filth overboard to feed the kraken, and let this be a lesson to the rest of you! Hands OFF! Touch her and you DIE!"

Elsa, still shaken and confused, thinks the voice sounds familiar, but she can't seem to clear her head enough to figure out where she's heard it before. Abruptly, she is pulled up face to face with this new voice, but her eyes still don't want to focus and she still can't see through the wet sticky salty stuff (blood, it's blood) on her face.

"Hello, Your Majesty!" the voice dripped with scorn. "Have you missed me?"

* * *

She falls back on the bunk and has a vision of that same voice saying, "Your sister is dead...because of YOU!"

The vision continues and she relives how she fell to her knees and the snow freezes in mid air and everything is perfectly still until she hears him draw his sword and she knows he is going to kill her and she doesn't care because she killed Anna she killed her sister she's a monster and she deserves to die.

Only she doesn't die, because Anna is stronger than Elsa is and she is beautiful as ice and stronger than steel and she saves Elsa and she saves herself with that pure selfless act of true love and Hans is sent to his brothers in disgrace. Wait, what!?

Finding her voice she managed to gasp, "Hans?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" even more scornful, if that is possible.

She suspects she is going to hate the way that title comes out of his mouth soon.

"Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, escaped from durance vile and ready to reacquaint you with the real world after all these months of happily ever after." He smiled down at her, and she shudders.

Her head is clearing. She shakes it, trying to clear it even more. She looked up at him. He hasn't changed much. He wasn't wearing his Southern Isles uniform, of course, but he was still the same good looking, smooth talking bastard he had been 15 months ago.

"Where am I? What have you done to me?"

He leaned against a bulkhead, crossed his arms, and cocked his head at her.

"Quite bit, actually. Let's recap, shall we? First, I drugged you and kidnapped you by convincing your idiot guards that you were dead. That part involved a bought and paid for 'physician' and a dead body that everybody thought was you. Very sad. I'm assuming they figured it out once they got it back to the castle and someone took a closer look at 'Elsa'. Anna, perhaps. I'm sure she could hardly wait to caress her dear sister's face. Imagine her surprise!"

Elsa winced. She could imagine only too well. Oh, Anna.

"Of course," Hans went on, "By that time, your unconscious body was in a packing crate being loaded onto this ship, which set sail on the evening tide, while the 'physician' and his assistants did a quick costume change and sauntered out of town while the mourners began to gather at the castle. We had planned on a two hour window, and that proved more than generous."

She mulled this over. "Who was she?", she asked in a flat voice.

"Who was who?" The question broke his train of thought and puzzled him.

"The poor innocent woman you murdered to provide 'my' dead body, you piece of...gutter dung!" she spat.

He shrugged. "Who knows? Collateral damage, of no importance. Let's move on, shall we.?"

He stood up straight and began to pace around the room. She followed him with eyes snapping with hate. He was enjoying this. One ice blast, just one...but she couldn't make her magic obey her. What had he done to her? A small worm of doubt began to gnaw at her. Without her magic she was helpless to defend herself against him, chained and battered as she was.

Hans went on, "Once we were safely on the high seas, we set course for little resort town that was recently renamed Sjørøverhavn."

"Never heard of it. Renamed from what?" she was curious.

Hans shrugged again. She longed to wipe that smirk off his face, oh please just one little icy spike. Please?

"I'm not sure it had a name. Just a small fishing village and a small abandoned keep. Regular little fixer-upper, just waiting for the right landlord to show it a little bit of love." He preened. "You know what they say, a king is just a pirate who got lucky. I've got my little pirate band, we've got a nice little base of operations, and we're on our way!"

He laughed. She didn't like the sound of that laugh.

She stole a quick look at her hands. Was that a small sparkle of snow on her fingertip? She flexed her finger minutely. Yes! They were coming back. Her powers were coming back. Keep him talking, keep him wrapped up in his own cleverness and she'd show him the folly of his...he whirled around, closed the distance between them, and pinned her against the wall by her throat. She was choking. She raised her hands and struggled to pry his hand off her neck. He was too strong. He pulled something out of a pocket, a bottle.

"Ah, ah, ah, naughty, naughty!" he mocked her.

Pulling the cork with his teeth, he held the bottle in his right hand while his left stayed clamped on her throat. He rearranged his grip slightly, getting some leverage to open her jaw, and forced the bottle between her teeth.

"Drink up!"

She writhed in his grasp and tried not to swallow, but between the grip on her neck and jaw and the way he had the bottle forced into her mouth, she couldn't avoid it. She choked down about half of the liquid while the rest splashed down her chin and the front of her dress. It was vile.

When he released her, she coughed and gagged for a bit, and finally settled down to ragged breathing. She wiped her face with her hands, and noticed there was still quite a bit of blood there. She had forgotten the thug Hans had brained.

She had also forgotten how she had felt when she woke up. Now the memory was coming back. Her brain was shutting down, she couldn't concentrate, and the room began to spin. The blue glow on her fingertip faded, her powers were gone.

He smirked that damnable smirk at her, watching as the drug took affect.

"What is that ... that ... filth." She couldn't seem to settle on a word strong enough.

He puffed out his chest a little and buffed his nails. "Oh, my own little formula. Guaranteed to shut down ice mages at need. I'm afraid your delusions of grandeur aren't going to be helping you escape **this time**."

He turned and walked to the door. He opened it and started to leave, then turned back to her as if remembering something.

"Oh, my pirate band? Well, the leader of the band has the most interesting old fashioned view on certain aspects of sorcery."

She cocked an eyebrow at him in question.

"He thinks the best way to handle a sorceress is burning at the stake. Appropriate for an Ice Queen, don't you think?" and he winked and turned away and slammed the door behind him, leaving Elsa with a look of utter horror on her face.


	5. Another Picnic

**Chapter 5-Another picnic**

**Author's Note: Time to dial it back down a little. This is a little Kristanna fluff to take the bad taste of Hans out of our mouths. From this point forward, I am rating the entire story "T", but flag individual chapters that may be too intense and really need an M rating. I will also spell out what is driving the rating.**

**Enjoy the picnic.**

* * *

Anna tried to rub her aching temples unobtrusively. No point in exposing her vulnerability to the whole Council, and this was just one more meeting dealing with trade agreements and agricultural production. The kingdom had to eat, missing Queen or no missing Queen. The whole Regent thing was wearing her down. In spite of her inner concern that she wasn't very good at it, the Council and everyone else who dealt with her was impressed with her focus and work ethic. She wasn't too proud to admit when she was unfamiliar with an issue and needed help understanding it. Anna was also very good at delegating; she didn't joggle elbows unnecessarily.

On the other hand, when she DID feel an elbow needed joggling or maybe even a good twist, she wasn't shy about it. Some people were slow learners. It usually didn't take more than a couple of times of getting their head handed to them dripping gore to recognize her "I will NOT discuss this further!" face.

Although even that face was pretty cute, so it was easy to miss without practice. They were getting a lot of practice.

It had been ten days since Elsa's kidnapping, and Anna was sick and tired of being cooped up in the castle. Fortunately, the meeting was winding down, and there wasn't anything planned for the afternoon. She had every intention of enjoying the company of Kristoff, Sven and Olaf for the rest of the day. She deserved it; they all did.

Skipping down the stairs to the courtyard, she headed for the stables. She and Kristoff had arranged it the previous evening over dinner, and he would have everything ready for the outing. Delegation at work; she got to deal with the Royal Council, and he got to muck out Sven's stall and fork hay. He clearly had the better end of the deal. She was jealous. She wondered if she could talk him into a swap? Probably not. Kristoff was too smart to take that deal.

Olaf was the first to spot her, and he greeted her with a happy dance and his usual warm hug. "Anna! We're going on a picnic!"

She hugged him back and said, "You bet we are, little guy! It's been too long!" (and a little internal twitch as she remembered the day of their last one...)

Sven bellowed a happy greeting, and Kristoff popped up on the far side of the stall.

"Ready to go, Feisty Pants?"

"You betcha. I was born ready!"

She grabbed him for a quick hug and a peck on his cheek, and went over to where one of the stable hands was saddling her horse.

"Ready to go, boy?" Her horse nickered happily. He was tired of being cooped up, too.

She led him out to the stable yard, where Kristoff was already mounted on Sven, and pulling Olaf up behind him. She looked around for their escort, with a sigh of resignation.

She was an optimistic person but not stupid. As much as she needed a break from the grinding routine of the castle, she wasn't about to put herself or the kingdom at risk. Not while she was the Regent. They would follow discreetly, but there would be a guard escort with them. On the plus side, the four guardsmen had a pack mule loaded with more picnic goodies than she and Kristoff would have been able to carry by themselves.

Seeing a nod and a salute to indicate they were ready, too, Anna turned to Kristoff and said, "Let's do this!" and they rode out of the castle, headed for the Valley of Living Rock. The trolls were family, and they hadn't seen them in a while.

* * *

The remains of a delicious picnic lunch surrounding them, Anna and Kristoff snuggled together against a large boulder, resting up before tackling dessert. Sven was lying not too far away and munched on his carrots. Olaf skipped around the meadow they were in, enjoying the fall blooming flowers and sneezing his head off every now and again. He always caught up with it before it went too far, though. The horses and the pack mule were hobbled and cropping grass for their meal. The guardsmen were guarding, and all was right with the world. Well, mostly.

Since Anna was comfortably lying with her head on his chest and her arm around him, Kristoff felt it when she suddenly sighed.

"What?" He caressed her hair gently.

She drew little circles on his chest (and he kept reminding himself that ice was his life) and said, "Should I feel guilty?"

Startled, he looked down at her and said, "What? About what?"

She rearranged herself a little to fit more comfortably in his arms, and hesitated before she started talking.

"About Elsa. I still miss her, and I think of her almost every minute I'm not in stupid council meetings or with you, and certainly just before I fall asleep and I look up at the sky and wonder if she's looking at the sky, too." She drew a breath. "But it's just not as INTENSE as it was." She sighed again.

He gently took her chin in his hand, and turned her head so she was looking into his eyes.

"Anna, it CAN'T be as intense as that all the time!" He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Your body would just wear out and die if you tried to be that intense all the time. We need our strength over the long haul to fix the things that need fixing. So we can be intense when it counts." He paused for a moment, trying to think of a good way to explain it.

"It's like cutting ice. If I started the day at top speed, I'd be so tired by noon I wouldn't be able to move. I had to learn to pace myself to be able to work all day long. This is just like that!" He kissed her hair, and breathed deep of the scent of her, strawberry and mint and a little bit of chocolate.

A long thoughtful silence and she stirred. "You're right. I don't miss her any less, and I don't love her any less, and I will never give up until she's back home."

She looked up at him, all adorable eyes and freckles. "Thank you, Kristoff. I needed that."

Then she got The Look, the one that melted him every time, grinned that little urchin grin, and leaned into a kiss that certainly demonstrated she hadn't lost any intensity **this** afternoon.

Later as they rode back toward Arendelle in the gathering dusk under a sky bright with diamond points of icy brilliance they saw a shooting star.

"Make a wish, Anna!" Olaf cried out. Anna did.

_"Be safe, Elsa, be safe and come back to me!"_ she wished.


	6. Just Another Day in Paradise

**Chapter 6-Just Another Day in Paradise**

**This chapter rated M for Mature. Warning applied due to torture by simulated drowning. We don't linger on it, but it's there. Also a couple of naughty words, although most middle school classrooms hear worse these days. Expository monologueing by villain. Getting closer to the big action climax though. Maybe 4 chapters to go?**

* * *

Elsa could tell that the ship was coming into a dock of some sort. The activity on deck, the shouted commands, the sounds of the sails being lowered and the anchor being run out made it pretty obvious. She wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, but she didn't think it had been more than a day and a night. Her confrontation with Hans had been yesterday, so wherever this Sjørøverhavn was, it was within about 3 days' sailing from Arendelle. That wasn't very far as things went. She felt a small glimmer of hope. They'd be looking for her. Looking very hard. Closer was better.

"Lines secure!" came a voice from above deck, and the ship settled into a gentle rocking. They were docked.

Hans came in about an hour later. He was carrying a cloak, which he threw at her. He also had another bottle.

"Your Majesty!" accompanied by a sweeping, sneering bow. He straightened up and held out the bottle. "Take it!"

She looked at him, "You're joking, right?"

"Actually, I'm not. We've already established to both our satisfactions that I can force it down your throat."

She couldn't argue with that. He had done it twice more since their initial confrontation. She might be an Ice Queen, but she was also a slender, 22-year old woman in chains. He had the advantage in height, weight, and muscular build. No contest.

"So...?" she queried.

"So, why don't we just skip the nonsense, and you drink it when I give it to you. Less wear and tear on both of us."

It sounded too reasonable by half, and there had to be a hook in the bait somewhere, but as Elsa thought it over she realized it didn't matter. She needed to conserve her strength in every way she could, so she may as well go along with it.

"All right." She stretched out her shackled wrists to take the bottle. He handed it to her and she began to drink. She stopped when the bottle was half empty.

"ALL of it!" he snarled.

She drank the rest and threw the bottle at him. He ducked, laughing.

"Now, your cloak, Milady!" he mocked her again as he reached down to pick up the cloak and held it open for her.

She just looked at him, puzzled.

"You're incognito, Elsa! I want your command performance at the auto da fe to be a surprise for the audience!"

He snarled again, "Put on the damn cloak!"

Once she had it on, he pulled the hood over her head, practically blinding her. Combined with the dizziness from the drug, she could barely stumble onto the deck and then down to the dock without falling flat on her face. At least he had taken off the ankle shackles. He pulled her along the dock and took her into the castle. This drew no attention from villagers working around the ship or the castle.

* * *

Once inside, he dragged her stumbling down some stairs, and into a dark cell. When he removed the cloak, he gave her a little push and she fell onto a pallet against the wall.

"Hold out your hands, and no nonsense!" Hans commanded her harshly.

She held them out and he removed the manacles. She rubbed her wrists; they were chafed and tender but she was glad they were free again.

She looked at him. "Now what?"

He gave her that dirty, sneering smirk again. "Now, Milady will undoubtedly want to freshen up after her long journey."

She certainly couldn't argue with that, either, but somehow felt that he wasn't talking about something as pleasant as Oaken's Sauna. She felt a shiver of what might have been fear.

_"Conceal, don't feel."_ She whispered the mantra that she had used so long ago, but this time, this time, it might well save her sanity, instead of threatening to destroy it.

_"Oh, Anna!"_ She clutched that warm, bright memory to her heart.

* * *

Elsa lay shivering in a pool of water on the floor, soaking wet. She had been right, it wasn't as pleasant as Oaken's Sauna. Hans had left her in her cell, after telling her to change into her new outfit. This had proven to be a rather coarse woolen knee-length shift. It could have been worse, she supposed. At least the drug hadn't taken away her indifference to cold along with her other powers.

Two rather burly guards had come into her cell and taken her with them to another cell. It held a large, deep tub of water and Hans, lounging on a bench. He looked at her and waved at the tub.

"Your bath, Milady!"

To the thugs: "Push her head in!"

And so they did. She wouldn't have been able to overcome one of them, much less two. They held her head under until she thought her lungs would burst. Then they'd bring her up, gasping great gulps of air into her burning lungs, and just when she had almost recovered her breath, pushed her under again.

One time, they almost misjudged it. She regained consciousness face down on the floor of the cell, spewing water while someone pushed down on her back to clear her lungs. That must have worried Hans, as it ended the session for the day. When they were sure she had coughed up all the water, they let her recover for a moment, then dragged her back here to her cell and threw her in.

She tried to get up off the floor, but she was too weak and fell back. She blacked out.

Some time later, she woke up. She realized that she was dry, she was on the pallet under a blanket, and she was hungry. And someone else was with her. It was a woman who looked to be about twice as old as Elsa. She was kneeling next to Elsa's pallet, looking a little concerned.

"Lady, are you awake?" she asked.

Elsa raised her head. "Yes."

She tried to get up, the woman helped her. She sat on the pallet, wrapped the blanket around her. Maybe the cold bothered her just a little right now.

"I have food for you." said the woman.

She helped Elsa eat. It was a bowl of the sort of porridge that was filling, more or less nutritious, and cheap. Prisoner food. Elsa thought it was wonderful. Hans hadn't bothered feeding her on the ship. She thanked the woman for her help when she was finished.

"I think I need to sleep again." and Elsa fell sideways onto the pallet, unconscious.

The woman looked at her for a moment, then arranged her as comfortably as she could, pulled the blanket over her, and left.

* * *

Hans stopped by with his nightcap, but Elsa barely noticed. She drank the drug, rolled over to face the wall wrapped in her blanket and was asleep again before he had locked the door. She dreamed of Anna and her parents. They were, surprisingly, good dreams. She smiled as she slept.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, she felt much better than she had when she woke up on the ship. Sleep was a good healer.

The woman was there again, watching her as she sat up.

"Good morning." Elsa said to her.

This seemed to surprise the woman, who simply said, "Lady", while ducking her head in some sort of bow.

"What's your name?" Elsa asked her.

She seemed even more surprised, but responded, "Rana."

"My name is Elsa, Rana."

This elicited no response, but Elsa noticed she had another bowl of porridge with her, and apparently had also brought back her dress, now cleaned of the blood and brains it had acquired when Hans killed the thug who was assaulting her.

Rana gave her the bowl, and helped her dress after she had finished eating. With an impeccable sense of timing, Hans showed up with the morning drug, and ordered Rana out. She left, but Elsa noticed the look she shot at Hans as she did so, and made a mental note to ask Rana about Hans' rule over the village. Hans, of course, self-absorbed bastard that he was, was oblivious to Rana. Elsa suspected that other people somehow weren't real to him.

"Are we feeling more refreshed this morning, Your Majesty?" Same smirk, different day.

She didn't give him the satisfaction of a response, simply sat down with every bit of regal dignity she could muster and gave him her "Queen sleeping through Council Meeting with simulated wide awake attention" face. She noticed that seemed to irk him. _"Score ONE for the Ice Queen!"_

"What do you want, Hans?" she asked in a flat, expressionless voice.

He paced, "I thought I'd drop by and give you an update on the situation. By now, your sister must be going crazy, not knowing if you're alive or dead, and I'm sure the kingdom is in an uproar."

She gave him a _"Want to tell me something I DON'T know?"_ look. He obliged.

"I want you to understand something. You WILL die. Your two-bit kingdom, your simpering sister, her pungent reindeer herder, NO ONE will save you."

She simply raised an eyebrow. That drove him on.

"They don't know where you are, they don't even know if you're alive. They won't know when you die a slow, ugly, excruciating death over a slow fire...although the box of ash and bone Anna will get for Christmas with a card from me might tip them off."

**That** one scored on her, she couldn't quite hide the flinch. He caught the tiny motion. She was sorry she had let him see it. _"Conceal, don't feel."_

"When we roast you, I'll have enough archers and guards around that at the first sight of any attempt to intervene, you'll die a pincushion. THEN we'll burn your lifeless corpse. Won't be as much fun for me, but I'll take what I can get." He was panting.

She spoke up, "One last time, Hans, why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to FEEL it, Elsa. Every minute of every day until we march you out and chain you to that stake, I want you to FEEL what ANNA is feeling, and know the despair that you will never, ever see her again. To know that I will have my revenge on both of you. To know that I stole that family from you."

She stared at him. And because she wanted him to think that he had won, she slowly lowered her head, and let a single tear drop fall.


	7. The Game's Afoot

**Chapter 7-The Game's Afoot**

**Getting closer to some action. Hope you like military strategy.**

* * *

Anna was in Elsa's study, reading a report from her advisers concerning the latest in trade and agricultural production. Winter was coming, and the harvest figures were important, but...agricultural production? She thought wistfully of mucking out Sven's stall again ... their happy picnic was 4 days past, and the little boost in morale it had provided her was long gone.

A quiet knock at the door caught her attention. Kai stood there, with a strange expression on his face. It seemed an odd combination of concern and ... hope? She felt a surge of adrenaline.

"Kai? What is it?"

"Your Highness, the High Admiral has requested a meeting of all of your military advisers immediately. He would like you to join them in the Council room as quickly as you can. He has apparently received information about...the Queen's whereabouts!"

She spared a quick glance to the window, where Olaf was watching some birds eating bread crumbs she had put out earlier. Okay, good news there. Or at least, lack of bad news.

Anna pushed away from the desk and the hated reports and other paperwork.

"Kai, do you know where Kristoff is?"

"Yes, Your Highness. He was at the market square with the other ice harvesters, and the Admiral has already sent for him."

Good, she knew he would be back to the castle almost as fast as she could run down the halls to the meeting room.

"Olaf, come on!" The little snowlem jumped down to the floor and followed her as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him.

She skidded to a stop outside the meeting room, took a deep breath, smoothed her hair and skirt, and mustered up what she hoped was a good imitation of Elsa-like dignity. She then ruined the effect by almost tripping over the rug just inside the door, but it was a good try.

As she walked to her chair, everyone in the room turned, straightened to attention, gave a little bow while murmuring, "Your Highness", and waited for her to seat herself. Kristoff rushed in at about that point, also. She noticed a small group of roughly dressed strangers standing near the far wall, and someone in an unfamiliar uniform speaking to the High Admiral with his back turned to her. The Admiral finished the consultation, and they both walked over and sat down.

"Admiral? You have news?" she asked.

He stood. "I do, Your Highness. As I had reported at our regular meeting 3 days ago, our naval and fishing fleet had started to gather some good leads concerning possible whereabouts of our Queen. However, not two hours ago, we received several pieces of information that lets us nail down where she is with almost absolute certainty. This information, however, comes with some troubling details that require us to make rather urgent plans to rescue the Queen."

Anna didn't know whether to be elated or frightened. She settled for cautious optimism. "Go on, please".

He turned to the man in the unfamiliar uniform, and nodded. The man rose, and bowed to Anna. The Admiral spoke. "Your Highness, may I present...Bjorn Svensson, Captain of the Fleet of the Southern Isles."

Anna suddenly choked on her breath. "What?!"

Captain Svensson made a little gesture, trying to reassure her. "You Highness, please, let me explain."

Anna recovered a bit. She shot a look at the Admiral that said, _"This had better be good, or your next command will be a lighthouse!" _She could tell he got the unspoken message by his wince. She felt Kristoff take her hand under the table, a little squeeze to help her calm down.

"Go on, Captain." Anna's voice could have refrozen the fjord with no help from Elsa at all.

"You Highness, I must start by offering Arendelle the most profound apologies of the Kingdom of the Southern Isles. My King had taken great shame at the heinous acts of attempted regicide and murder that his son had committed here last year. Prince Hans had been tried, and sentenced to imprisonment for those crimes. He was sent to our most remote and harsh prison to serve his life sentence, and the King had hoped that after some time had passed, regular relations between our kingdoms would again be possible." the Captain began.

"However, about a year ago, during the winter, Prince Hans was reported dead of a winter influenza." The Captain looked somewhat abashed. "Such deaths are not...uncommon...in our prisons during the winter."

Anna could read between the lines. Some deaths were more convenient than others.

He continued, "A short while ago, it came to the attention of the King that Prince Hans had NOT died in prison, but had somehow escaped after faking his death. One of his accomplices was recently arrested for another crime, and offered this information in exchange for leniency."

The Captain looked grim. "The King was not inclined to grant it. But, given the choice between the noose and further cooperation, the individual further divulged that Prince Hans had fled to a small settlement 3 days sail from here, swearing vengeance on Queen Elsa, you, and the entire Kingdom of Arendelle."

Bowing again, this time more deeply, the Captain said to Anna, and the entire room, "The King sends you this information in hopes of repairing yet another harm to the Kingdom of Arendelle. He has instructed me to cooperate with you in any way possible to help you in this time of crisis. When I arrived, I did not know of Queen Elsa's abduction, but in light of the information I bring you, I cannot help but think that Prince Hans is somehow involved." He straightened up, waiting as if for a blow.

Anna's face was a mask. She seethed inside, but forced herself to give the man a slight nod of dismissal, and he sat down with a small sigh of relief that his head was still attached to his shoulders.

"Admiral? You said you had 'several' pieces of information?" Anna managed to force the question out through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Your Highness."

He gestured to the group of men at the far wall. One of them walked over to where the Admiral was sitting. Anna looked him over. He was clearly not comfortable in this venue. If she had to guess, she thought he might be a fisherman. The Admiral confirmed her guess with his next statement.

"This man and his companions arrived in a fishing trawler about the same time the Captain's ship docked. They came to the castle gates asking for you, and we would not have been inclined to admit them, except for this." and the Admiral slid something across the table to Anna.

She looked at it and felt her heart almost stop. It was a disk of ICE! Ice that wasn't melting, even in the warmth of the meeting room. And it had the image of Elsa's special snowflake on it!

"Where did you get this?!" she almost shouted.

She struggled to calm down, she could tell she was intimidating the man by the way he shrank back.

"Lady, my mother sent it here. She got it from a fine lady being held prisoner in our village. My mother is the servant for that lady, and she thinks that lady is your Queen."

He wasn't familiar with the nuances of polite address, but Anna didn't care. The only words she cared about were 'Your Queen.' Elsa!

"Please, tell me more. Is my sister ok? Is she hurt?!" He seemed reassured by her words.

"She is well, Lady, as well as be expected." He seemed to frown. "Prince Piggy does not treat her well." Prince Piggy?

"Tell her the rest, Jorgen, please." the Admiral interjected.

The fisherman continued, "About six months ago, a band of pirates raided our village. We thought they would plunder and move on, but they stayed. We call their leader Prince Piggy because he is." Jorgen looked around for a place to spit in his contempt for the pirate. Remembering he was in a castle and not on a fishing boat, he thought better of it.

"Prince Piggy been using our village as a base to raid and plunder, he has about 150 pirates with him. We have more men, but fishing spears and skinning knives are no match for pikes and crossbows. So we became their serfs." His jaw worked like he wanted to spit again.

Anna could imagine what the villagers had to deal with as the subjects of a vicious pirate band.

Jorgen went on, "Us fishermen could leave, but our wives and little ones were under Prince Piggy's control. We couldn't abandon them. Piggy showed us what would happen if we did."

Anna didn't like the sound of that at all. Jorgen face twisted in dismay as he remembered ugly things happening to the village.

The Admiral put a hand on his arm. "Thank you, Jorgen, I'll explain the rest of what you told me."

The fisherman nodded mutely, and moved back to stand with his fellows.

The Admiral turned back to Anna. "Your Highness, I'll sum this up quickly, as we have much planning to do and not much time to do it in. From what Jorgen has told us, it is clear from the description of 'Prince Piggy' that this pirate leader is in truth Prince Hans. And it seems almost certain that this secret prisoner is Queen Elsa. We need to continue to get more information from Jorgen, but the critical thing that he brought us is this: Hans plans to execute Queen Elsa 7 days from now."

The Admiral looked very, very unhappy. "He intends to burn her as a witch."

* * *

Anna's head was whirling. It was after midnight. The meeting room had erupted in outrage when the Admiral spelled out what Hans proposed to do. Even Captain Svensson had looked like he wanted to vomit and as an experienced naval officer, he was certainly familiar with ugly deaths.

_"Hang in, there, Joan!"_ Anna hadn't really thought that one through before, now she did, and she wanted to cry.

The Admiral had settled them down quickly, though, and expertly set them to planning the rescue expedition. The village was three days' sail from Arendelle, that left them only 4 days to get everything ready. The Admiral wanted a cushion, so they intended to set out for Jorgen's village in 3 days' time. It was still going to be tight, and they could only pray that the weather held. But they couldn't cut the planning any shorter. This was going to be a tricky operation and no mistakes could be afforded. They only had one chance to get it right, or they'd be planning a funeral, not a rescue.

Kristoff came into the study. He had been working with Jorgen and his fishermen. They were more comfortable with him than with any of the Arendelle officers. Apparently they were now settled down for the night on their boat, and Kristoff knew she would want to hear everything he had learned. He wasn't that thrilled with what he had to share, but, there you go. He took one look at her face, and "Hi, Feisty Pants!" died in his throat. He settled for a silent hug that went on for a long time.

When she stopped shaking, he looked at her and asked, "Have you eaten anything tonight?" She mutely shook her head. "OK, that needs some fixing."

He took her hand, and they went down to the castle kitchen. It was bustling, even at this late hour. The rescue planning would be going on around the clock, and the castle staff was doing everything they could to help provide for the military staff doing the work. Elsa was their Queen, and they wanted to be part of bringing her back, too. They also serve, who only stand and wait on tables.

Kristoff sat Anna down at a small table near the fireplace, and went to get some food and tea. He brought back two bowls of stew and two cups and set them down.

After watching her pick at the food for a few minutes, he said, "Hey!" She looked at him with a scowl.

"Anna, Elsa needs you at your best, and starving yourself isn't going to get her back any sooner."

Anna's expression softened, and she replied, "You're right. " and started eating, even if with less enthusiasm than she usually attacked food.

After they finished, they went up to the personal quarters wing of the castle. They both needed some sleep, there wouldn't be much time for sleep before the fleet sailed. Anna walked right past her bedroom and went to Elsa's.

"I'm sleeping here tonight. So are you!" and walked in. Kristoff knew better than to argue, but he would talk sense into her once they were settled.

She went to sit in the window bay. "Look, Kristoff, the sky's awake!"

It was indeed, with the Northern Lights in a brilliant autumn display. He settled down next to her, took her in her arms and they watched the sky in silence for a little while.

She stirred, and turned to him, and said, "So, fill me in on the rest of what Jorgen had to say." She sensed his hesitation. "What? Are you afraid I can't take it?"

He sighed. "No, that's not it. Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it and try to tell you it's all chocolate and cream. But, the Admiral is going to update everyone on it tomorrow, and you need your sleep right now. What's past is in the past, and what's most important now is getting Elsa back safe and sound, all right?"

He went on, caressing her hair tenderly. "You've been carrying the weight of the Kingdom on your shoulders for two weeks. Let me carry this little bit of it for you for one more night, okay?" When he looked at her with those soft brown eyes, she couldn't resist him. He had a point.

She pulled him close. "Kristoff?"

"Hm mm?"

"I love you."

He didn't hesitate. "I love you, too."

That was all that needed to be said. She fell asleep. When he was sure she was deeply asleep and wouldn't wake up, he picked her up gently, and tucked her into Elsa's bed. He loved the scent of Elsa, a clean, icy scent, that clung to everything she touched. He made sure Anna was comfortable under the quilt, kissed her forehead and went down to sleep in the stable with Sven.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon the next day when the Admiral felt he had the plan fleshed out in sufficient detail to present it to Anna and the rest of the Advisory Council. They would continue to refine it until they sailed and even afterwards, as some things could be worked on during the voyage to Jorgen's village. The Navy was good at this sort of planning and they had it down to a science. The stakes on this operation were a little higher than usual, of course.

There were enough seats for everybody this time, even Jorgen and the rest of his fishing crew. They had a critical role to play in the rescue.

"If I may have your attention?" The Admiral stood at the foot of the table, facing Anna. There seemed to be a map tacked up on the wall behind him. "I would like to lay out the plan as we have it so far, and will entertain questions at the end of my presentation."

He turned to the map and began. "Here is Jorgen's village. It is on the shores of a small fjord 3 days' sail from Arendelle, and is landlocked. This means we have no opportunity to infiltrate on land. So, a sea approach is required."

"Unfortunately, the pirates keep at least one of their ships on patrol at all times, and any approach by ships of the Royal Arendelle Navy would be seen before we would be close enough to engage. Therefore, we must infiltrate by ruse and stealth."

He waved toward Jorgen. "Jorgen will be sailing back to his village tonight. He will recruit fishing vessels from his people to meet with us the night before Queen Elsa's scheduled execution...", the word clearly was a jagged bone in his throat, "and they will take aboard as many Royal Arendelle Marines as can be fit into their holds. Other Marines will disguise themselves as member of their crews. We think that we can man the fishing boats with about 100 Marines in all. The fishermen will provide about 50 of their number as well, and there will be men back in the village to help during the actual assault. In total, our forces should number about the same as the pirates."

One of his aides tacked another drawing up on the wall. "Here is a sketch of the village itself. Here is the keep, surrounded by the village. Here are the docks. Between the docks and the keep is a town square. This is where Prince Hans", an obscenity escaped one of the men at the table but the Admiral ignored it and went on, "will set up the place of execution."

Anna tried not to gag. _"Burn her at the stake." _She couldn't keep the phrase out of her head. _ "Elsa, Elsa, Elsa! We're coming."_

"The fishing fleet with our men will return to the docks at dawn. We understand the execution is scheduled for noon. Unfortunately, this means that our Marines must remain quiet in the holds until the last minute. Only the men in disguise will be able to mingle in the village and position themselves around the...stake. And those men will be limited to knives as weapons. A few will have fishing spears." Anna didn't like the sound of that.

"When the Queen is brought out, we will strike. The timing will be tricky, and there is a short period of extreme danger to the Queen."

Anna raised her hand. "What exactly is the danger, Admiral?" She was no military strategist and needed him to explain.

The Admiral looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Jorgen's sister is a servant in the 'Great Hall'. As a servant, she is invisible to the men around Prince Hans. So she has been able to overhear conversations. Hans has made it clear that he intends that Queen Elsa die no matter what, and that should the slightest hint of a rescue attempt appear, his archers will kill her immediately."

Oh, that was bad, that was very bad. The Admiral could tell by the look on her face that wasn't going over very well.

"What we will do is position our Marines as close to the stake as possible. When the Queen is chained, and the fire is lit, we will strike. Hans intends a very slow fire, so that will not be the immediate danger to the Queen; the archers will be."

Anna tasted vomit at the back of her throat when she heard 'slow fire'. She choked it down.

"How will you protect the Queen?" She asked.

Grimly, the Admiral went on. "The men closest to the Queen will be members of the Queen's Own Guard. They will leap onto the pyre, and surround the Queen with their own bodies. They will die, if necessary, to protect her."

Anna was stunned. She was always aware of their protective guardsmen, but had never really thought about what their duties might entail at desperate need. She nodded mutely.

"At that point, what will happen is covered by the trite military phrase, 'All Hell Breaks Loose!'"

No one would mistake the expression on the Admiral's face for a smile. More like a snarl.

"All of our men and the villager men will attack the nearest pirates. The Marines hidden in the boats will engage, and those members of the Queen's Own that are able, will unchain her and get her to the nearest ship and below decks out of danger."

Anna had another question. "Why wait until she's chained? It seems easier to do it before they lock her in."

"Timing, Your Highness. Until the Queen is chained, she has several of Prince Hans' men holding her. If we attacked, they could simply cut her throat. Once she is secured to the stake, they will step down, leaving her alone on the pyre." He shook his head. "It's not ideal, as I said, this plan entails risk. It is simply the best plan we have that gives us a possibility of saving Queen Elsa."

He didn't like that word 'possibility' any better than she did, she could tell.

The rest of the presentation was more sterile. The ships in the fjord would sail into the harbor as soon as a signal rocket was sent up from the village. This would be done by one of the Marines as soon as the general melee started. The first thing the ships would do is blow the pirate patrol vessel into flinders, but it would still take them at least 30 minutes to get to the docks. The ground force would have to hold for that long before the reinforcements arrived. Captain Svensson's ship would be part of the expedition.

Finally, it was over. The Admiral gave instructions for the next steps, set the day and time for sailing, and dismissed the meeting.

Anna went over to talk to Jorgen and his friends. "I want to thank you for doing this. You are taking on a great deal of risk to free my sister."

Jorgen looked at her thoughtfully. "Lady, **you** fight for your Queen. **We** fight for our homes! We will do anything to rid ourselves of these vermin. And helping your Queen gives us the best chance we have since they first brought their filth to our shore."

Anna couldn't argue with that. She thanked him again nonetheless. He and his mates left, Kristoff went with them to their boats to see them off.

Anna had nothing to do until Kristoff came back, so she went out into the garden with Olaf to get some fresh air. She walked over to some bushes, fell to her hands and knees and vomited until nothing but green bile came up.

_"Hang in there, Joan!"_


	8. Kristoff's Promise

**Chapter 8 -Kristoff's Promise**

Anna and Kristoff walked hand in hand. The rescue fleet would sail in a few hours on the evening tide. Kristoff was sporting a stubbly beard. He was going ashore with the Marines and fishermen. Although Hans had not seen Kristoff for more than a few minutes back when Elsa thawed the Kingdom, he didn't want to take any chances of recognition. So, a week's worth of beard would provide an extra bit of disguise. He darkened his hair, too, dulling his unmanly blondness into something closer to brown.

Anna would NOT be going ashore, a fact which had led to a monumental battle of wills when the Admiral made it clear she would not be allowed to go along on the rescue.

**"She is MY SISTER, and if you think I'm going to sit on my round little butt in this castle while you heroes sail off into the sunset without me, you are sadly mistaken!"**

She was screaming. She was out of control, she knew it, and she didn't give a damn.

The Admiral took it all with stoic calm and let her wind down. Kristoff was a silent spectator. He knew **he** wasn't going to be able to dissuade her, and he was interested in a detached sort of way to see what the Admiral had in mind. He suspected it involved her being chained to a dungeon wall with Olaf for company. This was shaping up to be a classic 'irresistible force meets immovable object' sort of thing, and if the stakes weren't so high, would be highly entertaining. But Elsa's life was at stake, and so was Anna's, and Kristoff couldn't help but hope the Admiral won the argument.

When Anna finally ran out of breath, and started huffing and puffing to reload for round two, the Admiral put up his hand, and simply said, "Your Highness, you bring shame to the memory of your sister."

Whoa! That was a low blow, Kristoff thought. Anna just stood there, her mouth open, shocked speechless. She shook her head like she had been punched in the face and was trying to shake it off. Kristoff had to admire the old boy's stones. No wonder the troops called him "Hard as Nails". Personally, he'd rather face cannon fire at 50 paces than Anna in** this** emotional state. The Admiral simply watched her with a neutral expression on his face. When he was sure he had her attention, he went on.

"Princess Anna. I know a little of what you and Queen Elsa endured during your time of isolation. I certainly saw the trauma that you both endured during the Great Freeze. Your act of sacrifice to save her from that vile would-be regicide's sword saved all of us, as well. But remember for 13 years your sister, Queen Elsa, had no thought for herself, only for you and her kingdom. I am in no way minimizing your moment of courage, a moment that included what you KNEW was certain death. I know many brave men who could not face a sword blow like the one that came down on you. But **she** endured 13 **years** of moment after moment, with no hope of the release that death would bring her. Yet, she stood steadfast in her love for her kingdom, and for you, and bore that burden. A burden she could share with no one, not even you."

He could see he was getting through to her. "Can you do any less for her now?"

"What do you mean?" Anna was still reeling, but she was starting to think, not just feel. Her face was flushed, her breathing rapid and shallow.

**"This Kingdom cannot afford to lose both of you!"** For the first time, the Admiral showed real emotion and raised his voice.

"You know that this rescue is risky. Our best strategists give us only a one in four chance of successfully saving the life of the Queen. And many will die to buy her that one in four chance." He was breathing heavily.

"I have served this Kingdom in uniform for almost 40 years. I have sent men into battle, knowing that they would die, while I was safe behind the lines. There is no harder thing to do than to command others to die while you live."

His eyes weren't focused on her; they saw something far away and long ago, and that something was dark. He came back to the now, and looked at her again.

"This time, it is YOUR duty to Arendelle that must send others to die, and not put your own life on the line. If we lose Queen Elsa, **and** we lose you, THERE IS NO ONE ELSE!" This last was said with emphasis, but so softly Kristoff almost couldn't hear him. He was pleading with Anna, begging her to see that he was right.

And she did. It was like watching a balloon slowly deflate. She hung her head. She shook it. Kristoff could see her lips move, but he couldn't tell what she said. She straightened up and looked the Admiral in the eye.

"Admiral, I beg your most humble pardon. Thank you for reminding me of my duty. You're right. I must do this your way, or else everything my sister ever accomplished will have been for nothing. I can't do that to her."

Hmmm. Kristoff heard a "But" coming. His anticipation was rewarded.

"But I can't stay here, 3 days away. Please. At least let me be on one of the ships with you. According to the plan, there is very little danger being with the fleet. If the worst happens, we will know it almost immediately." They all glanced at Olaf. He was busy sniffing flowers.

"If that happens, you can order my ship to sail back to Arendelle while the rest of you take revenge for my sister." She took the Admiral's hand in her own. "Please!"

In the end, even the Admiral couldn't resist that 'Please'. Anna would sail with the fleet, but wouldn't get within 50 miles of the village until it was certain that Elsa was safe, and Hans was dead. That last part was a promise Kristoff had made to himself. He didn't see a need to share it with Anna just yet.

* * *

Kristoff broke off his reverie and saw that they had reached their destination. Two cenotaphs stood stark against the golden sunset sky. Anna laid flowers in front of both of them, then came back and took Kristoff's hand again.

Anna spoke, softly. She knew they could hear her.

"Mama, Papa, we're going to bring Elsa home soon. One way or another, our family will be together again." Her voice caught a little on that last. She shook it off, moved closer to Kristoff and put her arm around his waist. He did the same to her.

"You know Kristoff, he's come here with me before. I love him, Papa, and he loves me. And when we bring Elsa home," Kristoff hears the faintest emphasis on 'when'. Not an 'if', no, never an 'if'. "we are going to ask her to bless our engagement and announce our wedding plans. But we thought we should tell you first."

Kristoff felt her trembling the least little bit, and held her a little tighter. She untangled herself from him, and kissed each of the stones.

"I love you, Mama." First the one.

"I love you, Papa." Then the other.

"We need to go now, the fleet sails with the evening tide, and we can't miss it." She went back to Kristoff and took his hand again.

They turned to walk down the hill to Arendelle.

Kristoff looked back at the stones as they left, and sent a silent thought into the dusky twilight sky.

_"She is your daughter, and she will be my wife, and I will prove myself worthy of her, no matter the cost. I promise you that, on my immortal soul." _


	9. The Calm Before the Storm, Part 1

**Chapter 9-The Calm Before The Storm, Part 1**

Elsa was going to die tomorrow.

Hans had told her so. Repeatedly. Sometimes she almost wished that she could die right NOW, just so she didn't have to listen to his hate-filled invective every day.

Almost. She didn't relish dying, she **didn't **want to die.

_(Once she did. But she was redeemed, and would cherish that redemption into eternity. Anna. I love you. Please don't hurt too much when you find out.)_

As near as she could reconcile the time, she had been kidnapped almost three weeks ago, and had been here in Hans' miserable little 'kingdom' for two and a half.

They had settled into a routine. Hans would come by twice a day, in the morning and the evening, to make sure she took the drug that sapped her power. Every other day, he tortured her. It took her a bit to figure that part out. Why he was doing it, other than for the sheer sake of cruelty. He hated her, yes, but he vented that on her during the rants when he described in loving detail how she was going to die. He went on at length, every time, there was something obscene about it.

Burning truly was a Fate Worse Than Death, if accounts of burning were to be believed. Almost everything she had read made it plain that if the victim was given mercy, it was by being strangled to death before the flames could do their hideous work.

The water torture was bad. She never got used to it. Some days were worse than others, and they had almost misjudged it a second time and almost let her drown. Hans was furious.

But she had figured it out. It was a test. Hans needed a way to be sure, to be absolutely SURE beyond any doubt, that her powers were gone. It was a cunning test. When you wanted to breathe, when your body screamed for air, just a sip of air, a tiny little sip, please just one...no amount of rational control could override the body's need to survive. If any of her power had been there, she would have used it to overcome the guards and BREATHE. And every time she didn't, Hans knew he would win. Cunning Hans, clever Hans.

Rana was always there to help her after the torture sessions. They had developed an interesting rapport, distant yet somehow intimate. How could it not be, when Rana cleaned her up after every ghastly episode, helped her recover, fed her when she was too weak to feed herself, and made sure she was under the blanket when she slept.

The whole ordeal had taken its toll on her, body and soul. But somehow, it tempered her. It burned out the impurities, left behind a hard, bright core of diamond, of adamantine ice. Physical strength was not the only thing, or even the most important thing, as Hans would find out tomorrow.

Cunning Hans, clever Hans. In his cunning for devising tests, he had forgotten something.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

The drug wasn't working as well as it should. It still worked at full strength when she first drank it, oh yes. Otherwise, the water would have betrayed her to Hans. But it wore off sooner. She found this out in the early morning. She would often wake before dawn and she discovered she could make snow and ice, just a little. She practiced, testing her limits. She made little round discs, with her snowflake on them. She was careful to dissolve them afterwards although she thought she had lost one once. She couldn't find it, though, so she must have been wrong.

As her control got better, she realized that she could take Hans' victory from him if she was careful, and lucky.

If he followed his routine he would feed her the drug tomorrow morning but he wouldn't burn her until noon. Just enough time, just enough. She would still die tomorrow, but so would he. One last burst of ice magic; she would have just enough to take him and his pack of toadies with her. She was sure he'd be sitting close to the stake, as close as would be safe for him, wanting to savor every moment of her agony. He'd want to see the flames devour her, to hear her screams and smell the burning flesh. To wallow in his triumph over her and Anna.

And she would have to let the flames touch her, just a little, not too much. The pain and the fear would feed her power, just enough for her to defeat the cruel bastard and snatch his victory from him at the last possible second.

With any luck, with Hans and the other pirate leaders dead and chaos all around, Rana's people could take advantage of that chaos and free themselves from their bondage. It still wouldn't save Elsa. Hans would make sure the archers were ready and they would kill her the instant they saw her strike out at Hans. But they would be too late to save **him**, of that she would make certain.

But that was tomorrow.

Today she thought of Anna.

She looked down at the medallion in her hand. It was about the size of her palm, and it was a portrait in ice. Delicate, detailed. Crafted with every bit of love for her sister that she had in her heart. Two giggling little girls, head to head, hovering over a bright little star of snow. Anna and Elsa, Elsa and Anna, that last happy moment before she slipped and struck her baby sister with her magic and set this whole long train of destiny into motion. She would die tomorrow, but she would die with the image of her beloved sister next to her heart.

A melancholy sigh escaped her. She would miss seeing Anna and Kristoff get married, have children and grandchildren.

Elsa should have made them announce their engagement months ago, to insure that no one would try to stop the marriage because Kristoff had no title. Well, she would have to take care of that little detail from beyond the grave.

In her papers, with all the rest of the legally binding last wills and testaments and other minutia of a ruling monarch planning an orderly succession was a patent of nobility knighting one Kristoff Bjorgman and granting him the title, "Baron of Living Rock". She hoped he enjoyed the joke.

She had discussed it with Pabbie one day, wanted him to know that she knew she held no sovereignty over the trolls. It was important that Pabbie knew how much she cherished Kristoff. Pabbie laughed with her at the joke, and assured her that he would explain it to Kristoff should the need ever arise.

_Anna. I love you. Please don't hurt too much when you find out._

And she **would** find out when Elsa was dead. Anna knew, as did Kristoff, that when Elsa died Olaf would also die. There would be no doubt in Anna's mind what it meant when Olaf started melting.

_"Do you want to build a snowman?" _

She did, she had, and she was truly sorry that the happy little snowman would be lost to Anna. She wondered if he would find his way to join Elsa and her parents. She hoped so. She hoped she could share an eternity of summers with her little guy and her mama and her papa. And Anna, someday.

She looked up, out the tiny little window of the cell. A window that showed a tiny little sliver of the sky. The Aurora was bright tonight, it made a little hissing sound if you were very quiet and listened with all your heart.

_"Look, Anna, the sky's awake!"_


	10. The Calm Before the Storm, Part 2

**Chapter 10-The Calm Before the Storm, Pt. 2**

They were going to die tomorrow.

Not all of them. But some. Men died when they did battle with each other.

So tonight, possibly their last night to walk the earth as living men, they joked. They drank, they ate, they tended to their weapons. They shared the camaraderie that men do, when they are on the cusp of eternity. Some prayed. Some slept. Some played cards or dice, or made music. They all tried not to think about tomorrow, except maybe to say to themselves, "Please, don't let me screw this up."

Anna was so tense she thought she would burst out of her skin. She clung to Kristoff, afraid for him, afraid for Elsa, afraid for the soldiers and the villagers that would live or die tomorrow in an attempt to bring her sister home to her.

Kristoff was tense, too. He was no soldier, although he had occasionally faced death on the ice. This was different, this made him afraid. Not for himself, he was too young to truly feel his own mortality. No, he was afraid for Elsa. He was afraid of having to live, if Elsa died. To come back here to his wife-to-be, his soulmate, and watch her mourn in her grief. He wouldn't have to be the one to tell her that they had failed Elsa; Olaf would do that, by dying as well. Small mercy, that. Not one loss, but two. Very small mercy.

He glanced around the deck of the ship, watching without really seeing. Over there, the men of the Queen's Own Guard made their own private space. They were almost certain to die, most of them. And they would do it without flinching from their duty. Six of them were with Elsa the day she was kidnapped. THOSE had a special hardness in their eyes, a resolve that not even the other Queen's Own could match. They had failed their Queen once. They would not do so twice.

They would go down into the boats soon. The rendezvous with the fishermen from the village was set for midnight. They were far enough away from the village that it was a four hour sail. They **must** not be detected, or Elsa was dead.

He looked down at Anna. "Hey, Feisty Pants!"

His attempt at cheer fell flatter than a troll's foot. She just clung to him more tightly. She wouldn't cry, at least not where anyone could see her. She was the Regent, and she had to do this for Elsa. But she wouldn't let go of him until the last moment, when he went down into the boats with the others, to roll the dice and see if life or death came out on top.

He noticed that the men on the deck had started to stir, to move with some purpose, to shake themselves out into the order needed for boarding the boats.

Just as he realized this, the Queen's Own formed into ranks. Their officer looked them over, and saluted. They returned the salute. Then six of them, the six that had been with Elsa that day, marched over to stand in front of Anna. She looked up at Kristoff, let go of him, and stood to face the men. She owed them the courtesy of acknowledging their loyalty to the Crown and Kingdom of Arendelle. To her, as a symbol of that crown. They would do their duty, and she would do hers.

They braced to attention, saluted her, and held the salute. She returned it with a small bow of her head, her hand over her heart. They dropped their salute, turned away as one, and marched over to their place along the railing. All except one man. She looked at him quizzically, and realized that he was the only one in uniform. The others had all been dressed like Kristoff, since they were going to be in the crowd, as close to Elsa as they could get.

"Yes, Guardsman?" she asked him.

"Mum! Sergeant Feles Jorgensen, reporting as your bodyguard. Mum!"

It startled her, she didn't realize she needed one on board ship. Then she understood. This was a symbol. This man was to stay with her, so that even if the rest of them died, one of the six from that day would live, to remember, and to drink hail to his brothers-in-arms as they flew to Valhalla on the wings of the Valkyrie. She looked into his eyes, and she saw that he understood that she understood, and he was satisfied.

"Thank you, Sergeant. My House is honored by your service." He gave a small nod, then moved to a position slightly behind her and to her left.

"It's time, Feisty Pants." Kristoff leaned down and kissed her, deeply, with all his heart; a promise that if it was within the grasp of a mortal man, he would return to her and bring her sister with him. She loved this man so much; she couldn't hold it in and she told him so with her lips.

They boarded the boats, and slowly, quietly, they all sailed down the fjord, away to meet their destiny, to live or die, as skill or fate or luck or some deity decided.

Anna watched them go until she couldn't see them in the darkness any more. She walked over to where Sven and Olaf waited. Sven couldn't go, of course. He would stay on the boat with her, and Olaf, and if he didn't understand as much as a human, or even Olaf, he knew that his best friend had gone somewhere that he couldn't go. He nuzzled Anna's arm, and she put it around his neck, for her comfort as much as his. Then she buried her face in Sven's soft fur, so no one could see the tears, and prayed.

Because some of them were going to die tomorrow.

She looked up.

The Aurora was bright tonight, it made a little hissing sound if you were very quiet and listened with all your heart.

_"Look, Elsa, the sky's awake!"_


	11. Meanwhile, Back at the Dungeon

**Chapter 11-Meanwhile, Back at the Dungeon.**

**Author's Note: OK, the title of this chapter is a bit snarky. I needed to lighten up after the last two chapters.  
**

* * *

It was time.

Hans had come by with his morning bottle of cheer, and Elsa was relieved that he arrived on schedule. She was careful not to let it show, but her timing was tight and she couldn't afford to lose any of the recovery time she needed to overcome the drug and unleash her power.

He had also dropped off her 'costume', as he called it, as though this whole charade was just some play acting going on in his head, with the rest of the world just members of the cast. When she unwrapped the bundle, she was unsurprised to see that he had gone to some effort to duplicate the dress she had worn on her coronation day. The cape was not a long train, just long enough to reach slightly below her knees. If he was hoping she would do her hair up in her tight bun again, he would just have to live with the disappointment. Same with the gloves. She threw those down the midden in distaste. She had tucked her medallion of Anna into her bodice when Rana had turned away to fuss with something else. The feel of it next to her skin brought her a measure of comfort.

Rana helped her finish dressing. As she did, Elsa felt incredibly light-headed, like she was floating near the ceiling looking down on herself.. Not from the drug, this was totally different. It was like she was a knight, girding herself in her shining armor, preparing for battle. Well, she was, in a way. If she was wearing an embroidered skirt instead of chain mail, that was just part of the rules of this particular game.

She giggled as she thought, _"My strength is as the strength of ten, for my heart is pure!" _

Wait, what? Where is this giddiness coming from? Was the stress and trauma finally too much, and cause her lose her chance to do what she had to do because her body ran out of strength at the last minute? Oh, no, please, no. She staggered a little, but Rana caught her by the elbow until she steadied on her feet.

Elsa suddenly realized that Rana was humming or chanting something. It was rhythmic, primal. It thrummed in her ears. She recognized it as a yoik, but didn't know the language, so she had no idea what it was about. "Rana? What are you chanting?"

"I am chanting a yoik, Lady Queen Elsa. It is about you, and your battle with the evil that has afflicted this land." She went on chanting.

Elsa was stunned! "Wha ... what did you call me?" Elsa had never shared any information about herself with Rana except her name.

"You are Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and you are Elssá Biegkegaelliesdottir, and you have been sent to us to free my people from the plague that is upon us, in fulfillment of the prophecy."

This astonishing statement caused Elsa to stagger and sit heavily on the bed. Her brain refused to function. It was like she was trying to run on ice and her feet kept slipping just like normal people's would and she couldn't get any traction. She simply stared slack-jawed as Rana finished her chant, and then knelt in front of Elsa, and took Elsa's hands in her own.

She looked into Elsa's eyes with an intensity that burned, and said, "I am Rana Kristiinnásdottir, and I am the shaman, the noaidi of this village. When the pirates and their Pig-King came upon us, I was sent the vision that this was the prophecy that had been handed down to us over the many seasons:

_Your future is bleak_

_Your kingdom will splinter_

_Your land shall be cursed_

_With unending winter_

_With blasts of cold will come dark art,_

_And a ruler With a frozen heart!_

_Then all will perish in snow and ice!_

_Unless you are freed with a sword sacrifice!"_

"Prince Hans is the ruler with the frozen heart. You must free us!"

To Elsa, the room was spinning faster and faster. She suddenly remembered Anna telling Hans that he was the one with the frozen heart just before she punched him into the fjord. She took a deep breath, steadied herself again, and looked back at Rana.

"I intend to kill Hans today. I have just enough power to do it before they kill me. When I kill him, your people will have the chance to free yourselves from the rest of the pirates. It will be hard, but I think if you all work together you can do it."

Rana shook her head. "No." This took Elsa aback.

"No? No, what?" She didn't understand.

Rana replied, "Your people will not allow you to be killed. And they will help us kill the pigs."

Elsa wasn't sure she could handle any more riddles today. "My..my people? My people are three days' sail away, and have no idea where I am!"

Rana smiled. "No, they are here, today, I sent for them." She pulled something out of her pocket and held it out to show Elsa. It was her snowflake! "I sent this to them as proof you were here, and they have come to fight for their Snow Queen!"

Elsa slowed her breathing, regaining her composure. Rana smiled up at her. She reached into her pocket again, and came out with a small bottle.

"I have made this for you. It is a potion of healing, from a compound given to us by Beaivi-nieidi. It will give you more strength to overcome the poison you drank." She held it out to Elsa.

Elsa, as though she was in a trance, took it and drank it to the dregs. It felt smooth and cool as it went down her throat, and a tingle of warmth began to spread from her middle out through her body, to the very tips of her fingers. She could feel it soothing her nerves and she knew, she KNEW that she would have all the strength she needed for what had to be done.

She stood up. "Let's call the guards and tell them I'm ready, Rana! There are fell deeds to be done this day!"

She was Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, and she was Elssá Biegkegaelliesdottir, and she was the Snow Queen, and she really, really, really had the strength of ten. Won't Hans be surprised? Her lips drew back in a feral grin, and she went forth to do battle.

* * *

Kristoff tried to maintain a casual air, hard as that was. The infiltration had gone as planned, the ground troops were mingling with the rest of the villagers, and it was getting close to noon. He had almost lost it when he first saw the stake, surrounded by the bundled wood and kindling. Ice was his thing, not fire, but he could tell the pyre had been designed with care. Hans was going to stretch this out as long as he could, the bastard. Well, not this time, bucko. Kristoff and a hundred of his closest friends were going to rain all over this parade.

The "villagers" from the boats had knives and clubs in their sashes. A few of them had fishing spears, but people didn't usually carry those around the village, so there couldn't be too many. There were some stashed underneath the boats on the beach, so more would be available when the big fight started, but the first blows would have to be almost all hand to hand.

There was a sort of raised platform with about five chairs on it backing up to the wall of the keep. Kristoff assumed that was were Hans would be sitting for the big show. He decided to position himself so he could go after him at the first opportunity once the curtain went up. He was Kristoff's personal project, and no mistake.

There were a couple of higher platforms flanking the 'throne', and the archers were already up there, crossbows loaded and ready. They were using broad-point hunting quarrels, razor sharp and guaranteed to bleed out a stag at fifty yards. Kristoff suppressed a shudder. If one of those hit Elsa she would be dead before she hit the ground.

There were about 30 pirates armed with pikes and cutlasses milling around the platforms and pyre, clearly there for crowd control. It was going to be an ugly fight until the Marines were able to come out of the fishing boats and join in. Needs must when the devil drives. They would do it because they had to do it, or Elsa was dead. And that just wasn't going to happen. He needed her to be Auntie Elsa to his kids and grand-kids.

Kristoff leaned against a pole and took a last look around.

The Arendelle and villager fighters were slowly, as inconspicuously as possible, trying to position themselves closer and closer to the "good seats" near the pyre. He recognized a couple of the Queen's Own. He gave them credit. No one looking at them would think they were anything other than villagers.

If the crowd was a bit surly, well, that was to be expected considering how unpopular Hans and his merry band of cutthroats were in the village. Kristoff had heard enough stories on the boat to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. Nightmares that could supplant the one he still had occasionally, one involving an icy blue statue with a raised hand standing in the middle of the fjord with a sword driving down to shatter it.

Focus, Kristoff! No time for woolgathering.

Then, all at once, someone blew on a trumpet, Hans and his buddies sat on the chairs on the platform, the crowd control thugs positioned themselves and there was a stir in a doorway to the keep.

Kristoff checked his knife for the thousandth time and sent a silent prayer to what gods there may be, _"Please, don't let me screw this up."_

It was time.


	12. All Hell Breaks Loose

**Chapter 12-All Hell Breaks Loose**

**PG-13 for some naughty words. Again, middle schoolers these days use worse, but...it IS a battle. Even our Snow Queen has some expletive in her.**

* * *

Fortunately, the euphoric exhilaration that Elsa was feeling didn't interfere with her rational intellect. She was thinking furiously as they walked out the door to the village square, a guard holding each of her arms, knives at the ready. There was another one behind her, crossbow cocked and aimed at the small of her back. Hans was thorough, and he had made it clear to her before he had gone out the door that the first sign of any trouble from her would be the last.

She had realized that she had a serious problem. Well, **another** serious problem. When she thought her only option was to kill Hans before his guards killed her, the situation was stark in its simplicity. She had one goal-kill Hans. That was it. Her only constraint was that she had to carefully time her attack, concentrating her power and feeding it with just a little of the pain and fear that would come from letting the flames begin their work on her. Then, one powerful blast to take him out, and...oblivion.

That plan was in the midden now. Rana's words had filled her with hope, but complicated things enormously. Now, Elsa had a chance to live, and she **wanted** to live. More importantly, there were other lives at stake. Her original plan would have caused the villagers to be in danger, but it gave them the opportunity to overpower the pirates during the chaos of Elsa's attack on Hans and the rest of the leadership. Discipline was not a strong suit for murderous thugs, and the villagers would be fighting for their homes and families, willing to die for them.

Additionally, the Arendelle forces came into play and Elsa knew that her people had their own plan; that she didn't know what it was and THEY didn't know that she had her power back. They could find themselves working at cross purposes without realizing it. The body count could go up astronomically because of that, because she couldn't take the berserker option and just lash out. That left the advantage with the pirates, since they had no inhibitions about killing anyone and everyone. Starting with her.

As the guards took up her to the stake, no sign of this inner turmoil showed on Elsa's face or in her carriage. She bore herself with regal serenity, as though she were simply walking into her own throne room for an ordinary day at court rather than facing execution by her worst enemy.

She took in every detail of the scene; Hans, swaggering on some sort of excuse of a throne platform. The archers on **their** platforms, alert and ready, deadly crossbows aimed at her heart. The thugs holding the milling crowd back; a very surly crowd, ready to explode with hate and fury. Kristoff. Kristoff!?

Even with the beard and darkened hair, she couldn't miss her Royal Ice Master and Deliverer. She could read the anguish in his eyes and she wanted to give him some sign of hope, but she didn't dare. Hans was watching her with a gloating intensity, and he would see it and then they would all be dead.

_"Conceal, don't feel."_

* * *

Kristoff watched Elsa being brought out by the guards. She passed not 10 feet from him because of the position he had taken close to Hans. There was no recognition in her eyes as she looked around her, glancing at Hans, then looking right at Kristoff. He clamped an iron discipline on himself, forcing himself to be perfectly still, to give no tiniest sign that he was anything other than another villager. Hans was watching too closely. The guards pushed Elsa on, toward the pyre and the stake.

Kristoff seethed. _"Wait for it. Waaiiit for it..."_ He knew what the plan was.

The situation was tricky for the Arendelle forces. Because they were all separated, mingling with the villagers, the signal to attack had to be given with the utmost discipline. It had been drilled into everyone that no one could make a move until that signal came. It would be a fatal mistake to tip their hand too early. Fatal for the Queen, certainly, and a lot of others, too. Once the signal was given, they each had an assigned role, but except for the Queen's Own, that role could be boiled down to the succinct phrase: "Kill the pirates."

Coordination beyond that wasn't possible in the melee that would result once the signal came. The Queen's Own would rush to protect the Queen with single-minded purpose, ignoring everything around them until they could unchain her and get her to the relative safety of one of the fishing boats. They would do this without regard for how many of them died doing it. With luck, once the fight started and the Marines hidden in the boats joined in, the pirates would be too busy saving their own worthless skins to pay any attention to the Queen.

The signal would be a shrill whistle, given by Captain Eric Gunnarsson, Queen's Own Guard. The Captain had been in charge of Elsa's detail the day of the kidnapping, and he knew that his chances of surviving **this** day were as close to zero as to make no difference. He regretted that, but he would expiate his earlier failure to protect the Queen today, even unto death. He watched her being brought out to the pyre, the whistle in his hand. Soon.

That was the plan, in all its glorious simplicity.

The first thing any military cadet learns in a course on tactics is this: _"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy."_

* * *

The guards took Elsa to the stake. Two of them pulled her arms behind her and shackled her wrists together. It was a strain on her arms and shoulders, the stake was fairly thick, it had to be to withstand the fire. Then they wrapped more chains around her torso and legs. She would remain upright while the flames consumed her, until nothing was left but charred bone. Satisfied, the guards left her there on the pyre, facing Hans.

She was magnificent in her fell beauty, slender and pale, her skin almost translucent, and glowing with an inner light. Hans drank it in, triumph in his gloating heart. All that beauty was his to destroy, his to turn to ugliness.

He stood up.

"Well, Elsa? Ready to concede that I win?"

He looked over the crowd, which was clearly angry and ready to riot, but his men had them under control with their threatening pikes and cutlasses. He addressed the crowd.

"So, the powerful Snow Queen of Arendelle will burn for the witch she is. Let this be a lesson to you rabble. This is just the start of my kingdom. You should be glad you're here at the beginning. You'll be able to tell your grandchildren how you met King Hans when he first began his conquests!" He laughed, and turned to look for the guard with the torch, ready to order him to light the pyre.

"Hans!" Elsa's voice rang out with ringing clarity, strong and confident. Not the voice of a young woman about to die, oh, no.

He looked at her and sneered. "Last words, Elsa? Well, why not. It's traditional, after all."

He was not expecting what came next.

"Hans Westergard, so-called Prince of the Southern Isles, I condemn you for your crimes against me, my realm, and these villagers. I call you regicide, murderer, and pirate, and your life is forfeit for each of these and all of them. I am Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, and I **will** bring you to justice!"

And the chains fell from her body, she brought her arms around and threw an icy blast that took down the archers, and all hell broke loose.

* * *

Captain Gunnarsson had the whistle in his mouth, ready to signal the attack when Hans spoke. He almost swallowed it when Elsa called out Hans and took down the crossbowmen. But discipline held, and he blew the whistle like the salvation of his immortal soul depended on it.

Then he pulled out his knife, yelled, "For Arendelle and the Queen! Guards, protect the Queen!" and ran to close the distance to Elsa. He sensed that the others nearby were rushing to join him.

They surrounded the Queen, and she looked at them and smiled, and said, "Good to see you, gentlemen!" like it was just another day in the castle courtyard. She was busy, her arms out, trying to find other targets for her ice, but her friends were mixed in with her enemies, and her control couldn't pinpoint individuals in the writhing crowd. She concentrated on trying to find Hans, while her guards formed a human shield around her and scanned the crowd for any thug foolish enough to attack her.

* * *

With his exquisite sense for his own survival, Hans had dived behind his guards when Elsa blasted the archers. He rolled under the platform, screaming obscenities in his frustration. So close, he had been so close to finally killing the bitch, and she thwarted him again! He couldn't see her from where he was, he was under the platform, there was fighting going on all around the square, all he could see were legs and feet in some deadly dance. At least she couldn't see him either. He knew what would happen if she had one clear glimpse of him. He started edging toward the door into the keep. He had an escape route that would take him around the back of the village, and down to where he had a fast sloop tied up. This 'kingdom' was a dead horse now, but he would just go find another, and keep trying until he succeeded.

* * *

"Your Majesty, we have to get you out of here!" the Captain shouted at Elsa, trying to be heard over the din of the fight.

The hidden Marines had come boiling out of the fishing boats with bayonets slashing and were dealing with the pirates with practiced efficiency. This was clearly starting to turn the tide, but they weren't in control yet. A small niggle in the back of his mind wondered why he hadn't seen the signal rocket, but that was a small thing.

"We need to move toward the boats and get you below decks. It's the safest place for you until we can be sure we have control, and our reinforcing ships get here."

Elsa was still busy scanning the crowd for Hans, and shooting ice at any pirate or group of pirates she could hit without hurting her own people or the villagers. Part of her brain knew the Captain was right, and she gave him a nod while knocking down another archer that had appeared on the roof of the keep, his arrow flying harmlessly into the air.

_"Careful, Elsa!"_ she thought to herself. _"You're not out of danger, yet!"_ Where was Hans, damn him to the deepest hells? If he escaped, she knew he would keep trying until one of them was dead.

"Men, start moving toward the boats. Keep the Queen in the middle of our group, keep watching for threats. There may be more archers around!" The Captain gave his orders, and the group started edging toward the docks. He scrutinized the crowd, keeping his back to Elsa as they moved.

* * *

Hans had managed to get into the keep. Once he was out of sight of the square, he ran toward his escape route, then stopped. He was in the armory, or the room they called the armory. There were several crossbows racked on the wall, and on an impulse, he grabbed one and headed for the roof.

_"I'm going to kill you, Elsa. If it's the last thing I do!"_

His hatred gnawed at him, fueling his determination to have his revenge. He came out on the roof and looked down at the fighting going on below him. They were about 10 feet above the crowd, and he had a good view of Elsa and her guards, moving slowly toward the docks. He wanted to take the shot, but her guards gave him no opening. He wasn't high enough to be able to shoot down at her without hitting the guard instead.

He looked around, there was another pirate sitting on the roof, nursing his hand. "Bitch froze me!", he whined.

Hans kicked a crossbow that was laying on the roof to the thug. "Load that, I need you to take one shot, and then you can run!" The thug did as he was told, and moved to the edge of the roof next to Hans.

"I need you to shoot that guard, so I can get the Queen!" The thug nodded, and they both brought their crossbows up into the shooting position. Hans aimed carefully. He could still win this.

He said,"Now!", and watched the thug's arrow take down the guard between him and Elsa. He had a clear shot at her! Hans squeezed the trigger, and his arrow flew straight and true to Elsa's heart.

* * *

Anna paced around the quarterdeck. It was noon, or they thought it was noon. The ship had a fairly reliable chronometer for navigation, but the village didn't have any clocks, and probably went by sun time. The gnawing fear in her gut almost doubled her over in pain. She sat down heavily, her back to the ship's railing.

Olaf came over to her, concerned. "Anna, are you okay?"

She reached out to him, "NO, I am most definitely not okay. Please, Olaf, I need a warm hug!" She was crying.

He obliged. She sat there, her arms around him. If he started melting, she would be the last thing he saw and felt. _"Oh, Elsa!"_

"Your Highness?" Anna looked up. The ship's captain was looking at her with concern. "Your Highness, we have gotten the signal from the village. We are setting sail immediately to reinforce the assault force."

She leaped to her feet, shock flowing through her veins. Yes, yes, yes! They were on their way.

_"Hang in there, Elsa! We're coming!"_

* * *

Hans ran down the steps, exultant. YES! He had done it, he had finally done it! He wished he could see Anna's face when they told her Elsa was dead. He ran out the back gate of the keep...right into Kristoff's fist.

"You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you! For everything you've done to me and mine, you are going to PAY!" Kristoff was an enraged berserker.

He had seen the arrow hit Elsa, she had to be dead. He was weeping in his rage, and all he saw was Hans, and all he wanted to do was beat him into a bloody pulp.

They fought. Hans was momentarily stunned by Kristoff's punch, but he was a tough and gritty fighter himself and they were evenly matched. The fight went on for some time. Once, Hans slashed Kristoff with his knife, but it was a glancing blow, not enough to disable him.

Finally, Kristoff found an opening and landed one last kick to Hans' face, knocking him out. He stood over him, panting. He would kill him, he would. But the berserker rage drained from him and he just stood there, catching his breath.

Two Arendelle Marines ran up to him, and said, "Sir! Are you okay?"

Kristoff turned to them, dazed. Okay? No, probably not. But at least he was alive.

He spat down on Hans. "Tie that piece of dung up. Don't let him out of your sight. He's going to hang for what he's done."

Kristoff staggered off to go see what had happened with the rest of the battle. His heart wrenched at the thought of what Anna must be going through out on the ship.

* * *

When he got back to the square the Arendelle Marines seemed to have everything well in hand. There were quite a few bodies lying around, but it seemed the vast majority of them were pirates. The villagers weren't in a prisoner-taking kind of mood.

There were some prisoners, a ragged bunch of pirates kneeling with their hands on their heads, surrounded by some Marine guards. From the looks on the prisoners' faces, they appreciated that the guards were all that stood between them and the villagers. They would give no trouble.

There was a lot of bustling activity of the sort that needs to be done after any battle. Separating the dead from the wounded, tending to the wounded, rounding up prisoners, organizing guards, and so on. There was the coppery stink of spilled blood and other things less pleasant. The usual detritus when men do violence to other men's bodies with sharpened steel testified to the ferocity of the fight.

Kristoff went up to a man he recognized wearing the uniform of a colonel in the Arendelle Marines.

"Where's the Queen?" His voice was rough and harsh with unshed tears.

The Colonel looked at him and said, "Kristoff, you're hurt! Let one of the medics take care of that cut!"

Kristoff was holding his hand over the gash in his side, a bloody stain running down his tunic.

"I'm fine. Where's the Queen!" Why wasn't this officer in mourning? Didn't he care his Queen was dead? The Colonel looked around, and gestured to someone.

"Medic! Take this man to the Queen, and take care of his injuries!" The medic ran up, gave a quick salute to his officer, and took Kristoff toward the boat dock.

As they went onto one of the fishing boats, Kristoff looked out over the fjord and saw the four ships of the rescue fleet just coming to anchor. He would see Anna soon, then, and they could mourn together.

He turned to the medic. "Where's the Queen?"

The man pointed with his chin. "Right over there, sir! They're tending her injuries."

Kristoff staggered again, this time from shock. "Injuries?! She's not dead?" Hope, hope surged where he thought there was none.

"Why, no sir. She's right sore hurting, that's a fact. Bruise as big as a dinner plate, and maybe a broken rib, but she's not dead."

Kristoff pushed into crowd surrounding someone on a bed of sacks of meal. It was Elsa! They had bandaged her left arm and shoulder, and it looked like she had created some sort of icy covering for it, but she was alive! She looked up at Kristoff, and smiled at him, and he thought his heart would burst with joy.

He fell to his knees and reached out to her. "Elsa!" Her hair was disheveled, her face smudged and one sleeve of her dress was torn, but to Kristoff she was the most glorious sight on this earth.

She took his hand and said, "Kristoff, you're hurt! Let them take care of you!" Her voice was weak, but steady.

He just looked at her, and said, "I saw Hans kill you with an arrow! I thought you were dead!"

She smiled again, and brought out something from under the blanket they had covering her. She held it out to him on her right palm. "Anna saved me again."

It was her medallion. Ice harder than diamond, a picture of two little girls laughing together. The arrow had struck true at her heart, but her heart was protected by the love of her sister.

There was a commotion at the gangplank, and a whirlwind of red hair and freckles ran up, skidded to a stop, threw herself down next to her sister and her fiance. She looked at both of them, and couldn't decide which one to hug first. So she hugged them both, repeatedly. Being careful not to hurt Elsa's shoulder, or Kristoff's side. Or get too many tears on them.

The Admiral had followed Anna onto the boat, and stood watching the reunion with quiet satisfaction. He cleared his throat. The Queen looked up at him.

"Admiral, thank you for a most timely rescue. I think we should go home, don't you?" She smiled, it it was as if the sun had come out.


	13. Aftermath

**Chapter 13-The Aftermath**

It wasn't quite that simple, of course. There were always those niggling details to take care of.

The Arendelle medics did a good job patching everybody up and were particularly careful with Elsa, of course. Rana and her daughters helped as well. She had quite a few poultices that would clean and heal wounds and prevent infection. Elsa did not have any broken ribs, but they were very sore, and the massive bruise caused by the force of the arrow striking her medallion would take several months to fade completely. Given the alternative, she would take the discomfort.

The casualty numbers for Arendelle and the villagers were relatively small. Of course, for the individual dead and their families, the toll was infinitely high. Elsa vowed to take care of the families of her dead, and those of the village. They had died in her service, after all.

The casualty total for the pirates was 100%. They held a court martial in the square. For pirates caught in the act, there was only one penalty. Elsa pronounced the sentence and the Marines carried it out. The villagers were satisfied.

Elsa had one last discussion with Rana. "Your people will be welcome in Arendelle, Rana. We will send you any help you need to repair the damage these thugs have done, and your trade will help your village recover and prosper again. I and my House are in your debt, and you may call upon that at need."

Rana smiled. "Thank you, Lady Queen Elsa. I believe we will take advantage of your offer. We have become friends by helping each other, and that is the best start to a long friendship." Rana looked around at the village. "We will rebuild. We will mourn our dead, and heal our wounded, and repair our homes. And we will always remember the Snow Queen, the daughter of the god of the North Winds."

She hugged Elsa gently, bowed to her, and walked away to join her family in the village.

There was one last distasteful loose end to tie off.

Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff stood on the quarterdeck of her flagship. The Admiral and his staff stood with them. They looked across the water at another ship anchored not far away. They had a clear view. It was the ship of Captain Svensson of the Southern Isles. Her sails were furled, and her crew stood at attention in ranks on her decks. There was a rope hanging from one of the yardarms, with five men holding on to one end of it. There was a noose tied in the other end.

Captain Svensson had shown Elsa the death warrant signed by his King, and explained that the Southern Isles wished to put down its own rabid dog. It was their shame, after all. She couldn't argue with that.

They brought Hans up from below-decks. He was in uniform, complete to dress sword. To the rolling cadence of drums, Captain Svensson tore off every bit of insignia from Hans' uniform, including the buttons. Then he took the sword out of its scabbard, broke it across his knee, and threw the pieces aside. His last act was to backhand Hans across the face, and the drum roll stopped.

He turned to his First Officer. "Take him".

Two sailors took Hans over to the rope, and put the noose around his neck. Through all of this, Hans had not reacted in any way, maintaining a stony glare. He was no coward, no matter what else he was.

The Captain opened a scroll, and read in a loud voice. "Hans Westergard of the Southern Isles. You have been found guilty of treason to your sovereign, piracy, and other acts of murder. The penalty is death. Let the sentence be carried out."

He nodded to the First officer again, the drums began another long roll and the sailors ran across the deck with the rope. The drums stopped. The only sound was the creaking of the rope against the yardarm and the cry of a distant gull.

The Captain turned to look at Elsa and her people. He swept off his hat and bowed in a deep obeisance. She nodded her acknowledgement and turned away.

"Set course for Arendelle, Admiral." They were going home.

* * *

When they got back to the harbor in Arendelle, there was a large crowd waiting to cheer the return of their Queen. The celebration went on for days. There was chocolate, and Olaf got all the warm hugs he could ever ask for from the children. Sven settled for carrots. Lots and lots of carrots.

There were somber ceremonies to attend to, of course. The victory had come with a cost, after all. Elsa and Anna had been there for the burial services for every one of their dead. It was their duty to those who had died in service to the Crown. Elsa made sure that the families received life pensions. It was small recompense for the loss of their loved ones, but it relieved the economic burden, at least. She didn't forget about the four people murdered to fake her death. She and Anna visited their families to express their condolences in person.

Two weeks later, Elsa held a formal court to award honors to those who had served with distinction in the rescue operation. Some of the awards were posthumous, and were presented to the families of those honored.

The last one to step forward was Captain Eric Gunnarsson, who had taken the arrow for Elsa. The thug's aim had not been as good as Hans', and had driven the arrow through the Captain's right shoulder. By some miracle, no arteries were severed, so the Captain did not bleed out. But sufficient nerve and bone damage had been done that he would never use that arm again. It was in a sling, and it was clear that he was not completely well yet. But he stood tall and proud as his Queen hung the medal that symbolized the Arendelle Crown of Valor around his neck. He bowed to her, and stepped back.

Elsa turned to the crowd, and said. "For his valiant service to the Crown, let it be known that Eric Gunnarsson of the Queen's Own Guard is promoted to Colonel of Marines. He is to be honorably retired, in acknowledgement of his sacrifice, and he will always have a place of respect and honor in Our Court. And the eternal gratitude of the Crown of Arendelle."

She smiled at him warmly. They had spoken at length when she had visited him in the infirmary. He had tried to resign, claiming he had failed her.

She had refused, saying, "Captain, what ruler can afford to lose men so willing to sacrifice everything to do their duty? No one is to blame for what happened except the scum who did it. And he has paid the penalty for it. I will hear no more about resignations!" and that was the end of that argument. Elsa could be very persuasive.

Everybody mingled for a while, enjoying the party. Elsa walked over to where Kristoff and Anna were doing some damage to the dessert buffet. Well, Anna was doing most of the damage, she had the cutest little fleck of chocolate frosting at the corner of her lip.

"Hey, you!" Elsa poked her sister in the ribs gently, right on the tickle spot. She was lucky she didn't get frosted herself when Anna nearly dropped the piece of cake she was eating.

"Hey! Not fair! Snow Queens can't sneak up on people like that! Especially when they're eating chocolate cake!" Anna sputtered with feigned indignation.

She grinned at her sister. Kristoff just kept eating his cake. He was mostly healed up, he had his wife-to-be and his soon to be sister-in-law back, and all was right with his world. He supposed they'd have to formalize it soon, but everyone had been pretty busy since they got back, and ... he was startled out of his reverie by a firm poke in the ribs.

"Hey, you!" that was Elsa hitting HIS tickle spot.

"Uh, Your Majesty?" Now what did he do wrong?

"Don't go wandering off." Elsa walked away.

Kristoff looked at Anna, bewildered. What was that all about? Anna just looked at him like the cat who had gotten into the chocolate cream. She put down her plate, took his out of his hand and put it down, grabbed his hand, and started pulling him toward Elsa's throne.

Elsa stepped up on the dais and nodded at Kai. "Attention, Please! Queen Elsa of Arendelle would like to make an announcement!"

Everybody moved toward the front of the room and quieted down. Elsa looked out over the crowd, turned to make sure Anna had gotten Kristoff close, and turned back.

"I would like to make an announcement that brings me great joy. Let it be known that I, Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, do formally acknowledge the engagement of my sister and Heir Presumptive, Princess Anna, to be married to Kristoff Bjorgman, Royal Ice Master and Deliverer. Let it be proclaimed throughout the Kingdom of Arendelle that this union has my blessing and support."

She smiled down at Anna and Kristoff, and the room erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers. Kristoff found himself getting pounded on the back and having his hand shook until he thought it would fall off. Much later, he was able to pull Anna out on one of the balconies for some privacy.

"Hey, nice way to sneak it up on me!" he accused her, but he was grinning like he had never grinned before. She grinned back at him.

"Elsa and I worked it out. She knew springing it on you would work better than letting you worry about it. My Royal Ice Master and Deliverer!"

"That's still not a thing!"

"Sure it is!" and then they were in each others' arms, and didn't think about anything else for quite a while.

* * *

**The End.**

Boy, am I glad that's over. Maybe now I can get some sleep.

Confessions. This is the first time in my life that I have ever written a piece of fan fiction. Ever. I'm 64, by the way, so that's a long time. For some reason, this popped out. It's been an interesting 5 days. The experience was weird, but oddly satisfying...except for the missing sleep part. Good thing I'm retired and don't have to get out of bed until I feel like it.

The story and characters took on a life of their own. This turned out to be their world, and I'm only writing it down.

You wouldn't believe how far the final product is from what I first had in mind. The whole plot had always been: "Elsa in trouble! Save her!" but the devil, as they say, is in the details. Captain Gunnarsson's award, for example, was going to be posthumous, but then he was in disguise, so he couldn't wear his red tunic, and...

All the characters were always there, except Captain Svensson sailed up out of the blue one day, and took the end of the story to somewhere I hadn't seen coming. (I had a completely different ending for Hans than that. It was a bad end, because I believe the bastard got off way too easy in the movie. But this one is a lot more satisfying, actually.)

Anyway, I would appreciate reviews and feedback. Throwing something like this into the winds of the Internet is...odd.

* * *

**Trivia for those of you who care:**  


If we accept as canon that the movie takes place in July, 1840. (I know, Word of God says, 'about' 1840, but go along with me here.)

Then a quick check of the astronomical tables for phases of the moon tells us that Elsa's coronation took place on July 14, 1840. Why? Anna and Hans dancing, silhouetted against a full moon.

With that as a baseline, this story begins on October 14, 1841. ("moonless night" = new moon. Gotta love astronomy.)

I refuse to check tide tables. Artistic license says the tides were what I said they were.


	14. One Last Thing Before We Go

**Beautiful...Powerful...Dangerous...Cold**

**Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Hans**

**Just sayin'**


	15. Last Words - This time I really mean it!

**Author's really truly last word.**

June 7, 2014.

For those of you following this story or me as an author:

This was the first piece of fan fiction I had ever written. Ever in my life. So it was bound to be a little rough around the edges. Hey, I was a physics/math major!

In the 2 months since I wrote it, I think I have learned a lot about the art of writing, primarily due to the gentle nagging, I mean, mentoring of stillslightlynerdy.

Read my latest story, "The Hour of the Wolf" and see if you don't agree that I've gotten better. Please?

In any case, I decided to go back and edit every chapter of this story to eliminate superfluous commas and mixed verb tenses. Also to break up paragraphs that were too long, and make the dialogue clearer. Minor rewording to make sentences flow better.

Any remaining errors are all mine and no one else's.

There were no changes to the plot. But I do think the story reads better now. I hope you agree.


End file.
